


The Beginning of Days: Sargasso

by MBIII



Series: Days Past [5]
Category: Ratchet & Clank
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alien Planet, Angst, Boarding School, Canon Compliant, Eventual Romance, Gen, Humor, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-02-10 13:58:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 102,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18661795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MBIII/pseuds/MBIII
Summary: In the Aftermath of the Capture the Depot match, feelings are mixed to extreme degrees. There are those who want to conclude this nonsense feud and wish to wash their hands of it once and for all, while others still believe it is not enough. One person, however, is looking to put an end to it another way, by forcing Kaden and Kor to work together, or die alone in the prehistorically wild swamps of Sargasso.





	1. Awake

A mysterious being floated alone in an empty void. 

It felt nothing. It saw nothing. It heard nothing. It didn't taste or smell. 

At one point in time the entity had been sure that it had existed... or, at least, it thought it had existed at one point. 

However, the being wasn't so sure about that now, as its only proof that it ‘did’ exist was simply its ability to ask itself this question.

It could do little else.

* * *

After questioning itself for a long time, or, at least, for what felt like a long ‘time’, as there was no way for the entity to measure the passage of such a thing, the being had finally decided that it did, indeed, exist.

The primary reasoning that it gave was that, after it had first assumed it had not existed, it had then found that there was nothing else to do, which got boring, so it had instead decided that it ‘did’ exist.

The being had then been able to slowly discover other clues to its existence as well. 

Feelings of emotion began flashing through its conscious the more it dug inward. Seeing as there was no other stimulus to explain the entities change in emotional state, it had come to the conclusion that the feelings were memories. 

There was nothing clear enough to help determine what the memories had been about, but seeking out these vague thoughts and attempting to discern them felt purposeful.

Not all of the feelings that these memories brought were good though...

_ ‘You ruined everything...’ _

* * *

Kaden…

This was the name that the being had remembered itself being called. 

‘Kaden’ had no way of knowing how long he'd been trapped in this sensory-deprived state. His memories, prior to regaining his self-awareness, were blurred and hazy, but he could now see much of his early life. There were still faces that didn't have names and names that didn't have faces, but on the whole, most of who Kaden was had now returned to him. 

Among his recent memories though, one particularly powerful one seemed to take hold of his focus. It was a memory of him fighting against another Lombax whose very existence seemed to cause the entity known as Kaden confusion and discomfort. 

This was a memory that did not feel good.

However, despite Kaden's desire to dwell on that particular memory of the strange Lombax, he soon realized that the only questions that should be on his mind now were those of his current state. 

He needed to figure out what he was presently, before he sought what had happened to him in the past.

At first, he'd considered the possibility that he might be dead. This logic came from the terrible damage he'd remembered his body having suffered. However, the theory was not widely accepted throughout his mind. 

_ ‘If he was, in fact, dead, there should no longer be any oxygen or nutrition flowing to his synapses, meaning he shouldn't be able to think or even be aware of himself,’ _ his conscious argued against his theory. 

For the sake of considering all possibilities, however, he still explored this hypothesis.

If he were actually dead, he knew he'd have to be in some kind of afterlife to be conscious of it.

Kaden, though, had yet to gather enough evidential proof during his life to believe that an afterlife existed. But, that didn’t mean he was above reconsidering the possibility, especially now. 

And so, he tried to match his current condition with his mental catalog of religious afterlife scenarios. He had been bored one summer and decided to study ‘all’ the religions in the galaxy... he managed only about half the ones in his sector. 

Only two scenarios that he could think of matched his current situation.

First of these possibilities to be eliminated was that of the now extinct Krazik Tribe (name translated to galactic Language) of Ardolis who believed that once a person died, their soul is forced to live in the ocean as incorporeal sea creatures until they are consumed by the great sea leviathans that roamed its depths. 

Though the theory had merit, Kaden had to dismiss it as it was simply too buried in the superstitious fear of the ocean held by the native tribe's people for it to really be credible.

The other possible scenario was that in which he was simply trapped within one of the many versions of Purgatories/Limbos from several of the religions he'd read about. The common factor being the lack of sensory input. 

If he was, in fact, stuck in some form of Limbo, then he was either trapped for all eternity or he had to wait to be processed into one of the larger afterlife bodies. 

Kaden mentally crossed his fingers for something akin to the various heavens, but he didn't hold out much hope.

However, if he had instead already been processed and was now in some form of ‘Purgatory’, that would, unfortunately, also make sense. 

Adding credence to this theory, most purgatories revolved around someone suffering through what they considered to be the most uncomfortable situation imaginable. For Kaden, not being able to do anything in an empty void of ultimate boredom definitely sounded like a viable purgatory for him. 

Kaden mentally crossed his fingers that this wasn't the case, but, again, he didn't hold out much hope.

* * *

" You ruined everything. _ " _

_ ‘There were those words again!’  _ Kaden thought angrily.

The phrase always sounded strange and distant, but at the same time, it reverberated in Kaden's mind. 

They seemed out of place at first and Kaden had simply assumed that he had been the one saying them. After all, there was nothing else here.

As time had passed, however, and Kaden was able to recall the meaning of the words he'd heard, he'd began to suspect that they were coming from somewhere else.

Kaden did not like these words and there were many reasons why.

The first reason was obvious. Though he didn’t know why, these words conjured sad and regretful feelings to his mind.

More angering, however, Kaden disliked them because they were the one thing that discredited his theory that he might be dead. This meant that, worse than being dead and in some form of hell, he was instead being proven ‘wrong’ and now once again had no clue where or what he was.

Looking over the evidence once more, Kaden knew that he shouldn't be hearing anything if he was in Limbo, and if he was in purgatory, then he was sure whatever being that passed for the keeper of his afterlife could come up with something a little more meaningful to berate him with. 

After all, the voice was basically saying he was responsible for his own fate, which he was already fully aware of and at peace with. It had been his choice to enter the fight, his choice to fight the fight, and even his choice not to dodge the attack that seemingly did him in. 

Surely there was something he regretted more in his life?

"You ruined everything!" came the words again.

The voice sounded different this time. It was much clearer and it definitely sounded like it had been spoken aloud rather than in his head. 

Kaden had even noted that the tone of the voice sounded female and he was now certain it didn't belong to him. 

But then, if not him, who?

Kaden had tried, many times, to move his body before, but since he never felt any response from his nerve endings, he'd simply assumed that his efforts had been a waste. 

Still, now that his situation had changed, he needed to respond in kind.

And so, the incorporeal Lombax strained himself to use muscles and nerves that he couldn't feel and wasn’t even sure existed.

The whole effort was an odd experience, to say the least. In most cases, a person would move their limbs by altering their muscles' signal intensity based on the feedback they received from the nerves. 

Kaden, however, had none of that. The only thing he had to go on was his memories of what moving his muscles felt like, so he just had to run through every muscle command he could remember. 

He tried his legs first, followed by his arms, then his neck, his face, his buttocks, and every muscle in-between, all without ever knowing if he even still had them.

But… for all his struggle and strain he was eventually, and suddenly, rewarded when he managed to briefly flutter his eyelids.

In that instant, he had managed to catch something. 

The sudden glare of light had been bright and blinding. So much so that it took Kaden's mind a long while to process what he'd seen in the brief quarter of a second. 

Luckily, all he had was time. 

After what felt like an eternity (again it’s hard to tell and Kaden tends to be a bit dramatic about such things), Kaden’s mind filtered out the glare from the memory of the image and a picture began to form. 

It was blurry and still full of painful light, but something was there, something with brown fur.

However, since Kaden couldn't feel his body, he had no way of knowing how exhausted his efforts had made him. The strain he'd put on his muscles, although seemingly small by any standard, was a relatively tall order for the fact that most of them had been recently regrown.

"You ruined everything..." said the voice one last time.

Despite his desperate attempts to study the words, Kaden's thoughts slowly drifted away and he lost consciousness once more.

* * *

Kaden's silence was once again broken, but this time it was done in a way that was much more forceful. 

The horrible, violent noise had been so sudden too, as if a glass wall of nothing had been instantly shattered, leaving his quiet slumber broken and tormented.

With little else it could do, Kaden's mind searched through its memories to try and identify the source of the noise. Eventually, he decided that it most closely resembled that of a chainsaw in some form.

Kaden was immediately concerned about the possible danger of such a device nearby, but at the same time his body was completely shut down and unable to react. 

Some part of his mind even decided to ignore the threat in its entirety and was happy to risk being damaged further or worse... so set was it on staying asleep. 

In the end though, Kaden finally managed to open his eyes, not out of a response for the possible danger, but because the horrible noise was making it impossible for him to lose consciousness again.

At first, the light was, again, too bright to see. It was as if his pupils hadn't been used in days.

Soon, however, the painful brightness subsided and a room came into view. 

There was a window, some chairs, and some tables, all of which surrounded a large hospital bed, a bed in which Kaden was lying. 

Groggily, his brain took in all this new information, but it quickly focused on its goal. 

In the far corner of the room there sat a brown-furred Lombax. She was curled up on the seat while snoring so loudly that it had successfully awoken a near-comatose severe trauma patient from his slumber.

Kaden attempted to speak, to say something that might stop the auditory onslaught, but all that came from his throat was a raspy series of coughs.

The coughing closed his weakened airways slightly and forced him into a fit of yet more coughing.

When the attack had finally subsided, Kaden decided not to try that again anytime soon.

It took a few seconds after that before the bedridden Lombax finally recognized the lombax’s form. It was Varin. 

It then only took his mind a few seconds more to identify and locate an empty milk carton on a food tray next to him. 

With strength born from desperation, Kaden strained his arm to reach for the object. He took hold of it with violently shaking fingers and, without hesitation, threw the cardboard container at Varin's sleeping mass. 

Kaden had been aiming for her face, but was stunned to find that the thrown object had barely made it to the foot of his own bed. His arms were practically wet noodles for all the control he had of them.

Still, Varin's snoring drove him onwards. 

Once again the distraught Lombax reached toward the tray table and this time he found an empty container that looked like it had once held some kind of fruit. 

With as much accuracy as he could muster, taking into account his weakened arm strength, he carefully tossed the container... but only managed to reach the foot of her chair this time. 

Still, it was progress.

Kaden squinted at his target and gritted his teeth with determination, before unleashing a full-on barrage of empty food packaging, most of which widely missed their mark until... he finally scored a hit on Varin's shoulder.

"Moral-shmoral..." grumbled the sleeping Lombax in response, "...he signed the waiver," she added before shifting her position in the chair. 

During this period there was a brief respite from the terrible sound of her snoring, a time in which hope fluttered in Kaden’s chest, but that hope was soon crushed when Varin opened her mouth once more and the sound returned. This time seeming somehow even louder than before, as it restarted its grating assault against Kaden's eardrums.

With a sour look on his face, Kaden reached over for another container, but realized, to his dismay, that he'd had already thrown everything that was on his food tray...

...

...

A loud bang reverberated through the room as Kaden's empty food tray slammed into the wall by Varin's head. The sleeping Lombax immediately bolted awake and nearly fell to the ground as she frantically searched for the source of the noise. 

Kaden was a little disappointed that he'd missed his target, but the goal appeared to have been accomplished either way.

After realizing that she was in no immediate danger, Varin then relaxed back into her chair and yawned deeply. 

For a moment, Kaden was worried that even after all that, she might attempt to sleep again, but after drowsily rubbing her eyes, she finally sat up in the chair and looked at him.

"I could have done it you know," she said sadly, with a disappointed shake of her head, causing Kaden to raise an eyebrow inquisitively. "I could have smothered you in your sleep at any time and this is how I get treated? You owe me your life!"

"Have you ever heard yourself snore, Varin?" retorted Kaden smoothly, though a little surprised to find his voice returned, "I almost wish you had."

Varin grinned at the retort, "Well, in any case, welcome back to the land of the living, Kaden."

Kaden returned the grin, but then a vague memory rose to the surface of his mind, "You didn't happen to say anything weird to me while I was under, did you?" he asked, having recalled the strange voice and sight of brown fur as if from a dream.

Varin raised an eyebrow at him, "Why would I talk to a comatose patient?” she asked, as if the question was somewhat insulting. “I'm not that crazy or lonely... yet.”

Kaden just shrugged it off dismissively before leaning back into his bed and letting out a deep sigh. He was amazed at how exhausted he had become after such a small amount of activity, but he knew he'd probably need to gather a bit more strength for the next part.

After a few short mental preparations, he spoke again, "Alright, I'm ready. Tell me," he said resolutely.

Varin nodded her understanding, but still wore her grin, "Twenty-two hours in surgery, ten hours in intensive care, twelve hours on high-risk failure status, and eight hours on observation. Plus, you were under an artificially comatose state until just now. You're actually up a little early." Varin paused to check the chronometer in her peripheral, "Total hospitalization currently stands at seventy-nine hours, thirty-two minutes and nineteen seconds."

Kaden suddenly felt exhausted again as the information hit him and he had to close his eyes to process it. 

_ 'Over three days,' _ he thought in disbelief, and that was only the time it'd taken him to wake up, meaning that there was still a lot of recovery time left before he was back to full strength.

The idea that he'd likely been within nanometers of death briefly surfaced within Kaden's conscious, but it was quickly brushed aside. He was alive now, so it didn't matter. 

What ‘did’ matter, however, was that he'd lost a lot of time sitting in this bed, with the promise of yet more wasted time to come.

Across the room, Varin watched intently for hints of Kaden’s thoughts through the ebb and flow of his expression. 

She began to feel an uncharacteristic twinge of empathy for her colleague. Finding out that you almost died must be hard news to take in. She couldn't even imagine being out cold for three whole days. Half the experiments in her lab would be dead by the time she'd returned.

That chilling thought then reminded the brown-furred Lombax that she'd forgotten to feed her terocklick this morning and by now the creature had likely tried to eat the student she had ordered to clean out its cage this afternoon.

It was likely too late to do anything now, so Varin made a mental note to give that student a satisfactory evaluation score if they survived. And, if that were the case, she would also need to convince them that it had been a training exercise, which was half-true really. Taking care of lab animals was part of their curriculum, it's just the starving terocklick that wasn't.

With that settled, Varin returned her attention to Kaden whom she found had finished his thoughts and had been studying ‘her’ expression.

"Will they live?" the tan Lombax asked knowingly. 

Kaden couldn’t be completely sure of what his colleague was thinking based on the expression of mild concern, followed by indifferent resignation, but four times out of ten he could simply assume someone's life was in peril due to Varin's actions and he'd be right.

Varin raised a slightly impressed eyebrow, "Let's just say they have a better chance than you did."

Kaden nodded his understanding with a self-satisfied smile, "So, what happened with the match?" he asked next.

"The Tough Nuts won,” Varin answered with a nod of approval. “You were the last person to leave the battlefield, so it was a victory by elimination. Unfortunately, you also broke a few safety rules, so you've been prohibited from participating in any Capture the Depot matches for the rest of the season."

"And Kor?" Kaden asked immediately after, uninterested in his probation.

Varin thought for a bit about the question, "Hmm, I'm not really sure about his condition, but he was discharged about a day ago. Though, he's still on 'exempt' status from classes."

Kaden remained pensively quiet for another minute, nodding his head several times as his mind processed the information. 

When he was done, he sat up once more, "How's everyone else doing?" he asked at last, almost as an afterthought.

Varin rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "Let’s see, Lacera’s only ‘major’ injury was a deep stab wound to her abdomen. She was released fairly quickly. Wraith was the worst off, after you, more of his bones had been broken than not, but broken bones are boring and heal quickly. He was about to be discharged, but, unfortunately, the boss had seen a replay of the match and decided to pay him a visit afterward. She must have been upset about his choice to be dramatic and cryptic with his last words rather than warn everyone about Kor…” Varin said these words with a gleeful smile on her face as she imagined how that ‘conversation’ had gone.

“Torque was completely unharmed ‘physically’,” she then continued, “but because of the bomb placed on his suit, they set the teleporters to ‘organic only’ and whisked him right out his armor and weapon systems before it detonated. His equipment did not survive the battle. Last time I saw him, he was curled up in the club room saying things like 'a musician without an instrument is just an art appreciator' and then he'd rock himself in the fetal position while making popping noises with his mouth. I think they were supposed to be imitating gunshots."

Kaden let out a sympathetic sigh, "He really did love the Dirge. I could tell by how concerned he was when I was installing the cryo-blaster on it. He never left its side in my workshop, even during the twenty-seven hour, high-pressure cryogel loading sequence."

"Yes," agreed Varin, with a mournful expression on her face, "he was a very sad sight to behold. I have video and pictures of it if you want to see them."

Kaden nodded somberly, "Yes, I do. But you can tell Torque that I'll help him rebuild his weapons after I'm discharged, if he'd like."

Varin smiled solemnly, "I'm sure he'll appreciate it," she said in a thankful tone, before clicking the 'send' icon on her digi-pad.

There was an awkward silence after that, as Kaden waited for the final team member's status update, but it didn't seem like Varin was going to give it. 

"What about Alister?" he had to ask eventually.

Varin interlaced her fingers and twiddled her thumbs as she contemplated what to say next, "Hmm... the good news is that he was released already, so he's completely fine now. No ‘permanent’ damage."

"And the bad?" Kaden pressed.

"Well... unfortunately for Alister it seems that he took quite a few Nanotech-absorbing hits, as well as a couple of particularly bad bone fractures in his legs, before he was, um... disqualified," she explained, choosing her words carefully.

Kaden sighed, "Varin, I'm not his mother, so can you just tell me what happened already?"

Varin's ears perked up and she clapped her hands together eagerly in a complete and sudden change of mannerism, "Oh it was horrible!" she exclaimed in apparent joy, "That Vol’terran fellow is one merciless guy. He reached right up and caught Alister by the throat. No armor, no padding, just metal gauntlets on fur and flesh. Then he slowly ‘squeezed’ the life out of poor little Alister. The rules say you only get teleported out if your situation is critical, or you lose consciousness. Alister was neither of these for a ‘really’ long time. The strain on his neck caused tiny rips in his throat, which his Nanotech tried to heal, but with his windpipe being held closed as it was, things started to get fused in all sorts of horrific ways."

The gleeful way in which Varin described his friend's suffering was fairly off-putting, but Kaden needed to know more and gritty details were often the most accurate. Plus, he had already been told that Alister hadn’t suffered any permanent damage, so he simply nodded his head to show that he was still listening and wanted Varin to continue.

The tan-furred sadist's grin widened in delight. She was used to at least being told to skimp on the details by now, "When Kor finally decided to end it, he did so by crushing Alister’s neck like a tree branch. His spine was snapped, his windpipe was crushed, and even his carotid artery burst. Once he was finally teleported into medical bay, the doctors nearly had to saw through his neck to get air to his brain in time. At the end of it all, his trachea was so shredded that it was considered beyond reasonable repair."

Kaden grimaced slightly and began rubbing his forehead, "And how ‘exactly’ does that amount to 'completely fine'?" he demanded, irritation leaking its way into his voice, despite his will to keep calm.

Varin shrugged, as if bored by the rest of the story, "Eh... they grew him a new one and replaced it within a day. I think he was only on tubes for like twelve hours at most. He'll have a raspy voice and trouble swallowing while he breaks in the new organ, but other than that he's good as new."

Kaden was relieved to hear that Alister was fine, but he did feel somewhat responsible for dragging his friend along. It was a little late for that now, though.

"So,” Kaden began again, after he'd digested the information on Alister, “what are ‘you’ doing here?"

Now that he'd been caught up on the situation, Kaden could finally address his deep suspicion of Varin’s presence.

Varin shrugged, "Whatever do you mean by that?" she asked in an innocent sounding tone that almost made Kaden queasy. "Can't someone visit a colleague who's been terribly injured and confined to a hospital bed? Even ‘I’ worry sometimes, you know."

Kaden raised an eyebrow skeptically before shaking his head, "Nope, not buying it,” he countered. “Not from ‘you’ at least."

Varin scowled and crossed her arms, "Fine then, if you ‘must’ know, the truth is that I came here to regulate your muscle-growth stimulants," she admitted, quite unhappily for some reason.

Kaden still didn't trust what Varin was saying, but he figured he'd push the conversation anyway, "And ‘why’ were you regulating my muscle stimulants?" he questioned further.

Varin's expression still said she wasn't happy about having to explain herself, but she couldn't hide her deep love of biological medicine as she eagerly described her efforts, "Usually, when someone has muscle tissue regrown, they need intense physical therapy to get it up to working condition. However, a good medical technician can significantly decrease the amount of therapy needed by reprogramming a patient's Nanotech to exercise the muscles for them while they rest. I probably saved you at least half-a-week of painful physical therapy!"

Kaden was intrigued by Varin's words, but he still harbored doubts. It just wasn't like her to do anything for selfless reasons.

However, Kaden couldn't deny that his limbs didn't hurt as much as he'd expected them too. Sure, his whole body felt sore and weak, but he'd experienced muscle regrowth before and never had he woken up feeling this good. At the very least he had to admit that her story was plausible.

"Hmmm, thank... you...?" Kaden said slowly after a brief moment of silence, but he was unable to hide the apprehension in his voice.

"You don't believe me?" questioned Varin upon hearing the obvious distrust in his words.

"Ehhh, it's not that I don't believe you..." Kaden began, trying to choose his words carefully… "It's that I ‘trust’ you... to only do things that you have something to gain from."

Varin took the comment surprisingly well, almost like a compliment, "That's fine if you don't believe me," she said dismissively. "It doesn't really affect me at all," she added with an indifferent shrug.

Kaden scratched his head. He knew that there had to be a reason for why Varin had helped him and he wanted to know badly. Not just for his own safety, which was surely at risk, but for the sake of curiosity as well.

"But, why wouldn't the doctors here just use that same Nanotech technique to aid my recovery?” Kaden pressed. “Unless you're going to tell me you're the only one at this academy who has the skill to do it?"

Varin grinned at the thought and considered her response for a bit, but eventually, she shook her head, "No, I'm not, but I can tell you this: it is ‘not’ easy to do. You have to monitor the readings and make adjustments constantly," she explained, a hint of pride for her work showing in her words. 

Then she turned her head to the side and muttered under her breath, "It's also prone to turning out badly for the patient." 

Varin then glanced back up at Kaden who had clearly heard her, "Um, but ‘that’ would only happen if I made a mistake, which couldn't possibly be the case, period. Besides, I figured you wouldn't mind a little risk if it meant getting out of here faster."

Kaden took a moment to mull over what Varin had said while also studying her expression carefully. 

That’s when he realized something strange... he believed her. 

But, it wasn't just because of what she said, it was what she didn't say. 

"I actually would have accepted that you might be the only one here who could do something like that with Nanotech," he admitted. 

Kaden knew that if Varin really had been trying to lie to him, she would have gone for the simpler, more egotistical, explanation.

Varin's expression showed surprise, which was rare for her, but it also seemed to contain the slightest hint of embarrassment, which was a first for Kaden to see, "Oh, uh, that's... nice of you to say,” she said, seemingly unsure of what to do when being given genuine praise.

Kaden shrugged, "Props to where they're deserved," he replied sincerely. Then he looked down in slight embarrassment himself. "Anyway, Varin... thanks for the help," he said again, and this time he meant it.

Varin was quiet for a moment, again seeming like she didn’t know how to respond, but then her expression got very serious, "No Kaden, it's me that should be thanking you,” she countered.

Kaden became confused, "What for?" he asked, thrown off by the myriad of new expression that Varin was showing him.

At this, a new, wider grin split across Varin's face and she sat up excitedly, "Because... if you hadn't shown up with your friend to join the Tough Nuts, Lacera would have made ‘me’ participate in that match too and then ‘I'd’ be in a bed somewhere!" she declared happily, before visibly displaying her relief with a swipe across her forehead. "Whew, I 'literally' dodged a bullet on that one."

Kaden stared, expressionless, at Varin for a short time, then he fell back onto his bed, closed his eyes, and laughed, which hurt to do. 

That was more like the Varin he knew, "You're welcome," he said with hints of exhaustion creeping back into his voice.

The next few moments ticked by in silence. Kaden had nothing left to say and was ready to go back to sleep. Assuming their conversation was finished, he expected Varin to declare he departure, but instead, she simply sat there.

Eventually, Kaden opened an eye and looked over at Varin from where he lay. She was watching him carefully as if trying to gauge something. Whether what she sought was about him specifically or just how he'd react to what she wanted to say next, Kaden couldn't be sure.

"So, Kaden," she began in a tone that said the subject of conversation had changed, "what will you do now?"

Kaden gingerly sat back up and took a moment to think of his response. 

Then, he looked back at Varin with a serious expression, "I think... I think I'll get a nurse to bring me lunch, since you clearly ate the one meant for me," he answered with a gesture to the empty food packages and containers strewn across the ground.

Varin coughed in surprise and looked away in what appeared to be guilt, "H-hospital, gremlins," she stuttered without making eye contact. 

Kaden blinked a few times in amazement at seeing anything even remotely resembling shame from Varin, he was now beginning to suspect that he was dead again. 

"Wait!" barked the tan-furred Lombax, as she suddenly realized she'd been sidetracked from her topic, "Not about that! I mean, what are you going to do about your little rivalry with Kor? Are you satisfied with how things turned out?" she questioned intensely.

These words caused Kaden’s mood to change so quickly that it fascinated even himself. He did not respond at first, but Varin’s question rapidly burrowed itself into his mind and took root across all of his other thoughts.

Having only just woken up, Kaden knew he couldn't make such a decision so soon and with so little new information, but he was surprised, and somewhat confused, at how quickly an answer had come to mind.

"Why do you ask?" he questioned back.

Varin studied Kaden's expression and tapped her chin pensively as she tried to gauge his thoughts again. 

Then, after a moment, she smiled, as if seeing something she liked,, "It looks like I have good news for you then. Our dear boss is-"

"Let's see here, patient 1148, Kaden. You seem to be awake. A little ahead of schedule, but that's fine."

Varin and Kaden both turned in surprise to find an older, male Lombax, with brown fur, and wearing a doctor's coat, walking into the room. His eyes were glued to his digi-pad and he didn't look up at either of them as he spoke.

The man then stopped at the foot of Kaden's bed, again without looking away from his device, and flicked his way through Kaden's medical data while nodding his head in approval, "Your vital signs all seem normal, neural activity looks good, and most importantly your vascular integrity is completely intact."

With one last nod, the doctor finally looked up from his digi-pad and straight at his bedridden patient.

The first thing Kaden noted was that the doctor's face seemed tired, but not like someone who was exhausted. The older Lombax's face looked as if it had become accustomed to frequently going without sleep for long periods of time and had taken on a permanent air of sleep deprivation.

Kaden returned the gaze with a confused look, "And... I'm guessing you're my doctor?" he asked.

The doctor's tired expression seemed to wake up a little, "Oh, of course! I apologize for that. It's just that I've already seen so much of you, Kaden, that I forgot this is actually the first time you're meeting me. My name is Dr. Dresden Osectis, you can call me Doc, Doctor, or whatever you want really, I’m not picky. I am the head of medical sciences here at Nova Academy and, as you've guessed, I am currently your doctor." 

Doctor Osectis then lowered his digi-pad and his tired expression became more serious and concerned, "Now Kaden, I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but I need to tell you this first. Your injuries were quite severe. After some intense surgical procedures, we needed to keep you in an artificial coma, while you recovered. I'm afraid to tell that you've been unconscious for almost-"

But Kaden put up a hand to cut the doctor off, "It's fine Doc," he interrupted. "My colleague here already gave me the basic details."

Kaden then gestured with his hand to where Varin ‘had’ been, only to find that she had vacated her seat and was now carefully tiptoeing her way toward the door behind the doctor's back.

The expression on her face when Kaden pointed her out was that of a child getting caught red-handed and it glared back at him as if he'd betrayed her. 

The doctor turned around curiously at Kaden’s gesture and the moment he made eye contact with Varin the air seemed to ice over.

"You..." hissed Osectis quietly under his breath with eyes narrowed.

An awkward smile spilt Varin's lips, as her eyes flicked between Osectis and tracing her escape route, "Now Doc," she began in what she probably thought was a disarming voice, "I'm not here to cause any trouble."

Doctor Osectis's eye twitched at Varin's words, "I warned you, Varin," he said as he began to square off like a hunter cornering its prey. "I warned you that the next body part you took from this hospital was going to be my foot, surgically implanted into your-"

"Hey, ‘they’ weren't using them!" shouted Varin defiantly as she crouched low and stared down her opponent. "You were throwing them out anyway. At least I put them to some good use."

"That doesn't make it right, Varin!" growled the doctor. "Just like how when a patient is about to die, it doesn't justify using experimental tumor growing mutagens."

"Those tumors were the only thing that could have absorbed the toxins," retorted Varin in defense.

"They didn't want the procedure!" countered Osectis. "It was risky, dangerous, and extremely painful!"

A small smirk bent the corners of Varin's mouth, but it quickly disappeared when it caused another growl of anger from the doctor, "If you recall, the patient's ability to make decisions was in question. I did what was necessary to save my patient's life, just like you taught me, Doc."

"Oh? Like I taught you, huh?" questioned Osectis with dark amusement in his voice. "Then what about all those 'common cold' cases that mysteriously showed up? Did you really think I wouldn't recognize the patterns in those viral DNA sequences?!"

Varin's eyes narrowed in defiance as she opened her mouth to defend herself once more, "I... got nothing," she admitted with a shrug before leaping toward the door with all the strength she could muster.

Osectis immediately lunged after her and swung his arms around to try and grab hold of his target, but she escaped his grasp by the fur of her backside.

The doctor then barely managed to stop himself from crashing into the wall before turning to look at the smug, self-satisfied Lombax standing in the doorway.

"Almost got me that time, Doc,” she mocked cheerfully. “You will always remember this day as the day you almost cau-"

But Varin's words were suddenly cut off as a large metallic humanoid tackled her to the ground from somewhere out of view. 

The sounds of struggle continued for several more seconds as two more Nova guard-bots appeared behind the first and joined the fray.

A minute later, Varin was being held aloft by two robotic sentries presenting their captured quarry to Doctor Osectis.

As they did, the doctor pulled out a small device from his pocket and held it up. This device had likely been used to summon the guards.

Osectis smiled with satisfaction as he addressed his restrained captive, "‘Fool me once’ Varin," he lectured with the mock air of a dissatisfied parent, but with all the smugness of a victorious child.

Varin stopped struggling when she realized escape was futile, but then she grinned up at the doctor defiantly one last time, "Oh yeah? Well, it's been ‘five’ times by my count... Doc."

Doctor Osectis visibly tensed with irritation. He looked prepared to respond, but instead breathed in deeply to calm himself, "Take her to the usual," he said at last.

The robotic security guards nodded their confirmation of the order before turning to leave. 

As they began to move away, Varin managed to catch Kaden's attention with a gesture of her head, which was the only part of her body she could move, "I'll see you on the outside, Kaden," she told him cheerfully before she disappeared from view.

Doctor Osectis didn't say anything immediately after that. He simply stared with a smoldering gaze out of the room for a few moments, leaving Kaden to marvel at how suddenly quiet it had become with Varin gone.

With one last, long sigh, the doctor finally turned around to face Kaden with a small, and clearly forced, smile on his tired face, "Now then, Kaden, I don't want to alarm you, but there is a ‘very’ good chance that your genetic structure has been manipulated in some way. That... 'person' who was just here is actually notorious for… mhmm, let's just say she does unapproved freelance medical work. We are going to have to immediately start a series of medical tests to make sure nothing has been... um, misplaced."

Kaden was trying hard not to smile for several reasons, one of which was the odd sensation of being on the receiving end of 'unapproved freelance medical work' for the first time, "That Varin character sure sounds like a handful?" he asked with a slight grin. 

Kaden had thought about telling the doctor that he knew Varin and that he was in no danger, but had thought better of the latter statement and decided that getting the tests done anyway would be a good idea.

Doctor Osectis dropped into the now deserted chair in the corner and let out a slight groan, followed by a short laugh, "Huh, that she is. It'll be even worse though, if I can't figure out what that fifth thing was that she was talking about. Anyway, let's just get back to the medical issues you had ‘before’ your interaction with pathogen 'V'. I'll take my hat off to you Kaden, I get a lot of Military Field students in here who clearly tried their hardest to get themselves killed. I take personal pleasure in making sure they get sent back with a clean bill of health and a note saying to continue training immediately. You, however, take the cake hands down."

Kaden’s eyes flicked left and right around the room as he tried to decipher the doctor's sarcasm level, "Um, thank you?" he said at last.

Doctor Osectis rubbed the space between his eyes briefly before continuing, "I removed three and a half pounds of shrapnel from your body. There's still roughly two ounces of metallic, foreign material stuck throughout what organs I didn't replace, but those pieces should be small enough to dissolve on their own and/or are considered non-threatening according to the scans."

Kaden nodded a few times as he took in the information, "Thank you," he said again, this time with sincere gratitude.

Osectis smiled slightly at his patient, "Well, you're not out of the asteroids just yet. You'll still need a good amount of Nanotech infusions and physical therapy to strengthen your new muscles. Almost fifty percent of your tendons and sinew bundles are one-hundred percent newly grown, so it will take a while."

"Yes, about that. Varin mentioned that she was regulating my muscle growth stimulants to help with that. Should I be worried at all?" Kaden asked curiously and a hint of genuine concern.

Doctor Osectis's reaction was a strange one. Kaden had been hoping for, at best, to see mild worry from the doctor at hearing the news. Honestly, though, he had expected to be immediately rushed back to the emergency room when he mentioned Varin's activities. 

Instead, however, the doctor simply raised a curious eyebrow and studied Kaden carefully.

"Is something wrong?" the recovering Lombax asked, trying to discern what the doctor's reaction meant.

But, Osectis just shook his head, "No… no need to worry. If Varin had messed ‘that’ up, you'd be wailing in agony as your overstimulated muscles spasmed uncontrollably, causing the underdeveloped ones to rip apart."

Kaden blinked a few times in surprise, but quickly brushed away the haunting picture that the doctor had painted, "So then, what's that look for?" he questioned further.

Doctor Osectis rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a few seconds before answering, "Well, to regulate the muscle growth stimulants, at least in a way that’s reasonably more efficient than a medical computer could do, takes a lot of time, patience, and skill. It's not a very easy task to do, and let's just say it sounds very ‘un-Varin’ like."

Kaden took a moment to consider what the doctor had said and the two sat in silence for a bit. 

He was sure now that Varin had something planned for him and needed him back to fighting condition quickly for whatever it was... That, or she had actually harvested one of his organs and helped him with his muscle growth as a form of repayment.

"But we'll have to let the medical examination team figure that out later," said the doctor, breaking the brief silence and Kaden's train of thought, before holding up his digi-pad again. "Everything looks fine for now, so that just leaves one thing left for me to do. I've been given a message for you, Kaden. You are to report to the office of the dean once you're released from the medical wards. It seems Ms. Tor'doran would like a word with you."

At the mention of the dean's name, Kaden's heart sank. He may have survived the battle with Kor, but he had much less confidence in dealing with the dean of Nova Academy, whom he'd never even seen outside of a hologram.

"Well it looks like I won't be surviving this ordeal after all," the injured Lombax joked halfheartedly.

These words brought out another strange reaction from Doctor Osectis. Upon seeing the look of dread in Kaden's expression, the doctor began to laugh. 

Kaden looked up in surprise and was, at first, irritated at being laughed at, but a short while later, Osectis reigned in his mirth and explained himself, "I see that reaction almost every time I mention the dean's name and it never ceases to make me smile,” he said cheerful between muffled chuckles. “True, the dean is very strict and dishes out various, rather harsh punishments to school rule breakers, but what do you expect? This whole academy is a place to teach the most intelligent and capable, as well as the most headstrong and arrogant, young Lombaxes from across the galaxy. She may play the villain to your young and reckless minds right now, but the Vasile Tor'doran ‘I’ know is a proud and kindhearted woman, who cares deeply for the safety and future of her students." 

The doctor then stood up and made his way back to the foot of Kaden's bed, "Whatever punishment she may give you, Kaden, remember this: you're the one who almost got yourself killed."

The tan Lombax was stunned by the doctor's words. From what he'd observed and heard about Dean Tor'doran, he had never expected anyone to defend her, let alone give him a good reason to believe them. 

It was a lot to take in. Add to that his condition and his earlier interaction with Varin, Kaden was beginning to feel exhausted again and he yawned loudly

Doctor Osectis studied his patient carefully and nodded knowingly, "Someone will be in later to run some tests on you. After that, you'll need recovery for at least another day and then, if your recovery progresses properly, we'll start physical therapy. In the meantime, just try to get some rest."

Kaden nodded his understanding and thanks to the doctor who then returned the gesture with a small smile before leaving the room. 

Kaden then laid back into his pillow again and felt the weight of everything he'd learned in just a few hours of consciousness.

It wasn't much more than a minute later that the young Lombax was sound asleep once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Dresden Osectis - is the head of Nova Academy’s medical department and a full-time staffer of the academy. It is said that no one knows more about the lombax body than Dr. Osectis and that watching him perform surgery makes it hard to tell if the medical department is based in the Science Field or the Art Field. ‘Os’ means ‘bone’ in French (also ‘osse’ means ‘bone’ in Latin’). ‘Sectis’ means ‘cut’ in Latin. So I made ‘Osectis’, which means ‘bonecutter’ to me, perfect for a surgeon.


	2. Not Good Enough

Alister walked up to Kaden's hospital room door. It was already open, but he remained outside for a moment to gather his thoughts, as he wasn't really sure how to proceed. 

If this matter had been just between the two of them, he'd have walked right in and probably made fun of his friend for still being stuck in bed, but now he had another person's feelings to consider. He could feel them in the weight of the chocolate box he carried in his utility suit's cargo pocket.

After gathering his nerves and taking one last deep breath, Alister finally walked through the doorway and knocked on the wall as he entered.

Kaden was sitting up in his bed and reading his digi-pad, but he did not react to Alister's knocking. 

Alister knocked on the wall once again, louder this time and cleared his throat audibly for added effect. Neither noises made the Lombax on the bed even flinch.

Alister sighed. Kaden must have had his ears shut off again while he was deep inside his NID. He would have to get his friend’s attention manually.

Alister approached the bed with his arm outstretched, ready to jostle its occupant, when Kaden suddenly sprang to life and shouted, "Bah!!!"

Alister jumped back in surprise and nearly tripped over his own feet in doing so. He barely managed to grab hold of a nearby, unused I.V. stand to keep himself from crashing to the floor. 

After several short breaths to calm his rapid heart rate, Alister regained his composure and faced his abuser.

The tan-furred Lombax in the bed looked up at him with a wide grin on his face, "Hey, Alister. How's the throat?" he asked, purposefully making sure his comment lacked any form of thoughtfulness or tact.

Alister stared hard for a few seconds, but, despite himself, he couldn't keep from grinning back, happy to see his friend doing well after all that happened, "It's still a little sore, but compared to the pain of dealing with you, it's nothing,” he assured him. “Though, I’m surprised that you’ve heard about my condition, didn’t you just wake up a little while ago? Visiting hours just started"

Kaden shrugged, "Varin was here yesterday when I first came out, she gave me an update on everyone's situation."

Alister raised an eyebrow suspiciously as he made his way to the visitor's chair, "Varin? Was here? On a hospital visit? Now I'm worried about you again."

Kaden smiled knowingly to his friend. He had probably worn the same questioning look when he'd awoken to find Varin by his bed, "That's what I thought too," he admitted, "but she actually helped me out. I'll be out of here in half the time thanks to her Nanotech tweaks."

Alister frowned unhappily, "Then I wish she could have done something about my throat too! I still can't enjoy food properly, and at the moment, that's a real problem." Alister then reached into his pocket and produced the box of Tasolup Chocolates for Kaden to see. "The very fact that I can't try these yet is actually hurting me more than my injury."

Kaden's eyes widened upon recognizing the box in Alister's hands, "Are those?" he began excitedly.

Alister smiled with an air of superiority as he saw his friend react much the same way he had, "As a matter of fact, they are. A special gift from Sorana to a poor, injured soldier."

Kaden's mouth was beginning to water at the mere thought of tasting such a delicacy, "Oh man! If Sorana got hold of another crate of Tasolups then it'll make this whole hospital thing worth it!"

Alister retained his smile, but only with some effort, "Ha, that's what I thought," he tried to laugh, but soon he let his smile bend down into a frown. "Actually Kaden, there's something I need to talk to you about."

Kaden looked up at Alister quizzically, "Oh?" he questioned, surprised by his friend's sudden, serious tone.

Alister was hesitant with his reply. He wasn't really sure what to say, "The thing is, Kaden... Sorana stopped by to visit me, to see how I was doing, but… but I could tell that the whole time she was much more worried about you."

Kaden's expression dimmed slightly at Alister's words, but it rebounded into a humorous smile a second later, "Yeah, she never really did like it when I got hurt. I'll have to be more careful about almost dying in the future. You know... for her sake."

Alister's frown turned from sullen to almost angry at his friend's response, "This isn't a joke Kaden!" he snapped. "I need you to be serious for once in your life."

Of course it made sense that Kaden would try to make a light of the situation, that was how most people handled difficult situations, especially ones who repeatedly face death like the warriors of the Military Field, but Alister just couldn’t get Sorana’s sad expression out his mind and he needed to make sure that Kaden realized the price of his victory in the Depot.

Kaden's smile quickly faded from his face and the young Lombax looked away from his friend, honest guilt was clearly written across his features, which was something that caught Alister a little off guard. 

"I know," the tan Lombax admitted somberly. "I really screwed up this time… but I can't do anything about it now. It doesn't make sense to feel depressed and wallow in self-pity, right? I can only try harder next time, so that something like this doesn't happen again."

_ 'That's just like Kaden,' _ thought Alister with slight sigh relief. 

Of course, his friend would never show any obvious signs of remorse. Dwelling on failures for the sheer sake of being depressed was against his policy of logic. 

The very thought that such a headstrong person could actually take anything seriously was almost as ridiculous as the idea that he could feel guilt, but the fact that Kaden did feel regret was unmistakable. 

Despite all of Alister's concern and worrying, it looked like everything had worked itself out before he'd even arrived.

At least, that's what he wanted to believe…

But Alister had known Kaden long enough to notice the small details in his words and a familiar feeling of doubt began to take root in his mind, "Well… I'm relieved to hear that this won't happen again, Kaden... But, the way you say 'next time' almost makes it sound like you’ve already planned for a 'next time'?" Alister asked with dread in his gut.

Kaden looked up at Alister as if his words hadn't made any sense, "Of course not!" he exclaimed at the sheer ridiculousness of the statement. "I woke up from a coma, like, twelve hours ago. Obviously, I don't have any sort of plans worked out."

Again, Alister wanted to drop the subject and assume the best right then and there, but he still couldn't shake his doubt, "I can never really tell with you, Kaden, so answer me straight: Do you intend on finally putting this insane, one-sided feud of yours behind you or not?"

Kaden stared back at Alister as if trying to comprehend something that looked out of place, "What are you saying?" he questioned. "You‘re not saying… Do you mean you're not still interested in defeating Kor?"

And there it was. 

Deep down Alister had known it the whole time, but still, he wore a dumbfounded look on his face as he responded, "Of course I'm not!” he barked while rising to his feet on reflex. “Kaden, you almost died! It's a miracle that you can even breathe without life-support, and you're telling me that you still want to fight that monster? Besides, forgetting all of that, the point is redundant, you already beat Kor!"

Kaden's eyes narrowed and he glared up at his friend as if he'd been insulted, "I beat Kor? Really? So tell me, Alister, what hospital room is he trapped in right now? How long ago did he wake up from an emergency, medically-induced coma? Better yet, can you tell me if the shrapnel in his guts jingles when he moves too?!"

Alister's hands tightened up into fists as they began shaking with frustration, "The Tough Nuts won and the Gold Bolts lost... What more do you want?!" he demanded angrily.

Kaden stared back at his friend with an equally hard gaze, but then his expression suddenly relaxed and turned into a look of understanding and disappointment, "I get it now," he began with what seemed like a hint of dark humor in his tone, "You're afraid of the Red Reaper, aren't you?" 

Alister was shocked to hear those words from his friend. Being accused of fearing an enemy was one of the gravest offenses that could be done to an aspiring Military Fielder, but it didn't stop there. 

When Alister didn’t immediately respond, Kaden grinned with vindication, "Kor got your tongue?" he jabbed again.

Without thinking Alister reached up and felt his throat as Kaden's words conjured up some very bad memories, "W-we had no business joining that Capture the Depot game!" he barked back hesitantly. He had been thrown by Kaden's accusation and had lost his momentum in the argument, but he refused to give up. "That sport is recommended only for level fours and higher."

But Kaden just shook his head, "Kor is only a level 3 and he single-handedly took down the whole Tough Nuts team, including you and me."

Alister was fighting to contain his anger at Kaden now, "Kor… Kor isn't lombax! I don't know if he really is a ‘Red Lombax’ or whatever, but he's definitely not normal. Even with all your technology and tactics, he beat you with nothing more than a couple of pistols and an oversized wrench. If we try to mess with him again… we might not survive."

Alister's words bit deep into Kaden's ego. He too had realized just how much skill Kor needed to possess to be able to beat all of his precious planning with so little equipment, yet hearing it aloud still stung. 

Kaden broke eye contact with his friend and looked away bitterly, "Since when did you become such a coward?"

But this time the words didn’t feel like an insult to Alister. Instead, the words felt like a wall. It was as if he’d been running after something and had suddenly slammed, head first, into an immovable barrier. 

Alister was suddenly aware that he could proceed no further with Kaden and the anger and frustration he'd built up over the course of their conversation seemed to drain away, leaving behind only a pitying sadness.

Alister looked down at the box of fine candy in his hand, "You know, Kaden... I've always known you were selfish and arrogant, but that was ok. You had the talent and the brains to back that arrogance. I followed you on so many insane adventures and all the while I never ‘really’ minded. If nothing else, it was never boring being around you." Alister's grip tightened around the box in his hand, "But maybe, for once in your life, you should try looking around and seeing who really gets hurt when your obsessions go too far."

And with those last few words, Alister flung the chocolate box at Kaden, hitting him dead in the chest, before storming out of the room and leaving his friend to himself once more.

Kaden had seen the box coming, but had chosen not to catch it. So angry was he at his friend's words that he just let the object strike him without any reaction at all.

It was only several moments after Alister had left that Kaden finally acknowledged the crumpled box in his lap. He reached down toward it with the intent of throwing it away, but his hand and mind froze upon reading the words scrawled across its top,

_ 'To: Kaden, From: Sorana' _

There was a sudden pang of pain in Kaden's chest, but for some strange reason, he couldn't entirely convince himself that it was just another pang from his recent injuries.

* * *

No matter how hard he’d tried, Kaden just couldn't seem to extinguish the argument that had raged in his mind since Alister had left. 

At no point in his life had Kaden ever thought of himself as a bad person. 

It wasn't like he was unaware of the people that got hurt on occasion, but it wasn't like he had intentionally tried to hurt them either. After all, accidents happen and he couldn't just stop his experimentations and projects out of fear that there might be an accident or two, right?

Then there was the question of him being too obsessive. According to his studies, an obsession causes its host to become blind to nearly everything that is not related to it. 

Kaden was aware that he had a habit of becoming super-focused on a single goal, but it was just a matter of opinion whether that was an obsession or simply the action of an extremely goal-oriented individual. From his perspective, the fact that he could even question himself on this matter was partial evidence that he wasn't 'obsessed'.

Despite this solid Logic of his arguments, however, Kaden's mind just couldn't shake the feeling that Alister's words might have merit. 

Try as he might, there were little bits of evidence that he simply could not ignore, like the sharp beep his digi-pad was emitting to tell him that it had finished its decryption operation, or the loud click of the hospital's rear, staff-entrance lock disengaging.

Kaden pushed the heavy swinging door outward before stepping into the early morning twilight. There were so many thoughts flying around his mind that he was having a hard time focusing on anyone in particular. 

In between the stinging memory of his confrontation with Alister and the strange feeling he got when he tried to eat Sorana's Tasolup chocolates, Kaden was really only sure of one thing…

Most, if not all, of his current troubles, could be traced back to one starting point, and Kaden had a feeling that he knew where to find them at this time of day.

* * *

The tingling sensation of déjà vu struck Kaden as he made his way through the level three locker rooms and the series of rapid thudding noises rang through the air.

Of course, he hadn't needed to hack through a level-restricted lock-out door to get in last time, but that was a minor difference.

Then, as he crept closer to the exercise room's entryway, Kaden started to hear a new sound. 

It was rough, like a mechanical sucking noise that changed depth and tone at seemingly random intervals. Kaden was curious about it, but he figured he'd find out what it was soon enough.

The exercise room's lights were off and the room was pitch dark; another similarity to last time. On this occasion, however, Kaden didn't hesitate to flip on the light switch and illuminate the room in an instant. 

The tan Lombax was just in time to watch as the fist of the person within the room ripped through a worn punching bag's skin and bury itself into the object's body.

What greeted Kaden's eyes next was what he'd been hoping to find, just like he’d found it last year, except the memory had been twisted into a nightmare.

Kor Vol'terran stood in the punching bag circle, with his back to the door, as sand poured from the bag and slowly began to pile up at his feet. However, this was not the intimidating, red armored enemy that Kaden had found before. 

In place of Kor’s usual G-83 combat armor was a medical life-preservation system. An armor-like device now encompassed him from his torso down to his thighs in large, bulky, ceramic plates that were dotted with monitoring devices. 

Wires and tubes snaked across the suit’s surface and fluids could be seen pumping through many of them as they were carried to and from the small recycler unit on Kor’s back.

The Lombax warrior’s usually metal-encased limbs were now instead wrapped in a thick layer of rubberized medical bandages. Here and there the bandages had been loosened, likely from excessive activity, and the cracked coating of temporary synthetic skin could be seen peeking out from underneath. 

Then, from those cracks in the synthskin’s surface, a viscous fluid leaked out, slowly oozing its way along Kor's body, staining the bandages in large blotches, before dripping onto the floor. 

This fluid was likely comprised mostly of Nanotech gel and other healing biotics, but the dark, crimson streaks that ran through it, were unmistakably blood.

For a long moment, Kor did not react to the sudden light or Kaden's presence. He simply stood in place with his bandage wrapped hand still inside the punching bag. His shoulders rose up and down in time with the now steady rhythm of the mechanical sucking noise Kaden had heard before.

Slowly, the mummified Lombax turned his head, followed soon after by his body, until he was facing Kaden… eye to eye.

The usual, emotionless, metal face was gone now, but Kor's head was not left void of obstruction. A large, heavy-looking breathing mask had replaced the lower half of Kor's head. From it, Kaden could hear the source of the sucking noise as gears whirred angrily in a desperate attempt to filter enough oxygen to meet its user's needs. 

It was clear to Kaden at a glance that the mask had not been designed to work under such strenuous conditions and it obviously was barely keeping up with Kor's air consumption.

The rest of Kor's head was wrapped in bandages, just like his limbs, from ear tip to neckline. In fact, the only part of the Lombax's body that wasn't covered was his eyes and it was here that the entirety of Kaden's focus was captured.

Bloodshot, snake-like and filled with rage; they were the same eyes that he'd seen three days ago during the CtD match and they were the same that he'd seen in his nightmares ever since. 

Kaden gulped unconsciously and immediately regretted showing such a sign of fear.

"You have very poor timing, Kaden." 

Kor's gravely, artificial voice, now filled with intermittent scratches of his faulty breathing apparatus, sent a shudder down Kaden's spine. Though this subconscious reaction of terror angered him more than anything, Kaden had to acknowledge what his mind was telling him about the danger he faced. 

Kor then slowly turned his smoldering gaze back towards the punching bag which his hand was still stuck in, "Or maybe you have excellent timing," retracted the bandaged Lombax before ripping his hand free of the bag and letting sand flood out onto the floor. "Apparently, this was the last training bag left in storage. I was about to use the tiny metal person that kept replacing them as my next one."

The sudden sound of whirring gears and panicked beeping erupted from the far corner of the room where a small, can-shaped robot with large arms had been standing next to a large pile of shredded punching bags. It began rolling around, back and forth on its single wheel, before darting for its storage closet and slamming its shutters closed. The sound of hushed, terrified rattling could be heard coming from the door a moment later.

Kaden turned back to Kor and found that the other Lombax had returned their gaze to him as well. Kaden felt that he should say something in response, but was surprised to find that his mouth had gone dry and that words eluded him.

"Nothing to say?!" intoned Kor and it was clear that irritation was evident even in his metallic tones. "Did you simply come here to laugh at your defeated opponent?!" he continued even more angrily, after yet still receiving no reply.

Kaden was frozen, both mentally and physically. His body wasn't responding to his commands and his mind was frantically trying to come up with anything to say. 

It was at this moment that Kaden realized he never had a reason to come here. There was absolutely no purpose for him to confront Kor now and he had made no plans on what to do once he had. 

Kaden had simply acted without thinking... and this realization was dumbfounding.

"Fine then," rasped Kor quietly before he turned around once more and put his hand on the now deflated punching bag. "I prefer actions over words anyway."

In a flash, Kor had ripped the bag from its hanger with a series of sharp cracks from the snapping chains above it, before sending the object hurtling toward Kaden.

Inside Kaden's mind, it was like someone had slammed the brakes on a train (of thought). Immediately, every bit of thinking he'd done up to that point was shoved out of the way and a new, more pure, line of thinking was created. 

This new thought process quickly measured the speed and trajectory of the incoming projectile while simultaneously ordering Kaden's legs and abdominal muscles to move out of its projected path.

The bag flew by Kaden at such close proximity that it pushed aside some of his cheek fur as it passed, before slamming into the wall behind him in a spray of sand and air. 

Following closely behind the weaponized punching bag was a synthskin-wrapped fist aimed directly at his face. 

Without much time to think, the tan Lombax barely managed to dodge the second attack by rolling to the ground and moving to get behind a large exercise machine.

Shooting pain from Kaden's legs and abdominal muscles brought his conscious mind screaming back to control along with a new and terrible understanding of just how damaged his body really was. 

His arms and legs barely obeyed him as he scrambled to avoid being crushed by the now falling exercise machine that he had tried to use for cover.

All around the fitness room Kaden ran, ducked, and dived. And, wherever he went, Kor was right behind. 

The enraged, bandaged Lombax smashed gravity manipulators, shattered monitoring devices and toppled towers of old-fashioned metal weights in an attempt to get his hands on his prey. 

All the while, Kaden searched his mind for whatever had possessed him to come here. He had no weapons, no technology, no plan, and absolutely no chance of winning a hand-to-hand fight with Kor Vol'terran!

Every step, lunge, or roll his body executed caused him sharp pain. And every shot of pain reminded him that it was only a matter of time before a very strong and very angry Lombax warrior got a hold of him and likely finished the job they’d started. 

However, as the seconds passed by between rapid flashes of action and desperate movement, another thought came to Kaden's mind,  _ 'Why hasn't Kor caught me yet?' _

Kaden should have been much slower than his opponent was, even if he’d been at full strength. The fact that he could successfully evade the feared Red Reaper of Nova at all with his injuries and softened muscle tissue slowing him down was enough to baffle his mind, even while it strained itself to find a way to escape his opponent.

It was a dangerous risk to take, but Kaden diverted some of his mental focus away from the task of dodging Kor's attacks and refocused it on examining the attacker himself. 

What he found was startling.

The Kor Vol'terran that chased Kaden now barely resembled the one he'd faced in the MSE tournament or the CtD match. 

Besides the physical difference of wearing medical tape instead of armor, this Kor had virtually none of the grace or skill he'd shown before. His attacks were not choreographed to predict his target’s movement and corner them. His usual surefootedness was now replaced with a bumbling series of jittery, reflexive movements and overshooting lunges. This Kor seemed to attack less like a vicious predator and more like a deranged animal.

It was here that a sudden ray of hope showed itself to Kaden. ‘This’ Kor wasn't even thinking before he attacked, likely exhausted from his exercise that Kaden had interrupted, and was clearly still hurting from his previous engagement just like Kaden was, maybe even more so. If Kaden could just outsmart his opponent using the room and the equipment around him, he might just have a serious chance to not just survive this fight, but winning it as well.

That ray of hope… was extinguished the moment Kaden felt his opponent's goo-coated fingers wrapped themselves around his tan-furred throat. 

It seems he'd yet again underestimated just how damaged his own body was. The mental capacity he'd diverted to analyze Kor had been too much, after all. 

With one last, metallic roar of exertion, Kor lifted Kaden up by the neck and slammed him against the nearest wall, pinning him in place with his feet and tail dangling a few inches off the floor.

Time began to slow back down in the fitness room as the ringing sounds of breaking exercise equipment and violent struggle faded until the only thing Kaden could hear was the harsh, strained breathing of the Lombax who held his life literally in their hands.

"What's the matter?!" demanded the victorious red Lombax, followed by a horrendous sucking of air through his mask. "No more tricks? Nowhere left to run?" he continued, mocking his opponent with both glee and exhaustion evident in his metallic tones.

Despite the violent wheezing that interrupted virtually every word, Kaden was sure that he'd never been as terrified in his life as he was at this moment. It wasn't just that he knew no help was coming, or that he knew there was nothing he could do, it wasn't even the fact that he could feel his supply of oxygen shrinking by the second as Kor squeezed ever tighter on his windpipe. 

What terrified Kaden more than anything, were those snakelike, green eyes that shuddered with excitement, mere centimeters from his own. They seemed to burrow their way into his very soul.

A cold, but strained laugh cackled out from the Kor's rebreather and it sent fresh, cold shivers down Kaden's spine, "After everything you've put me through, after all the humiliation and shame, I finally have-… I finally-… I-…"

At first, Kaden had been sure that the lack of oxygen to his brain was causing his hearing to fail and become patchy, but he soon realized that Kor's strange, intermittent speaking was not a problem with his head.

The horrible crunching sound of something mechanical breaking grated against the captured Lombax’s ears. Then, the pressure on his neck vanished and sweet air flooded back into his lungs as he fell to the floor gasping and coughing. 

Kaden’s head spun as oxygen returned to it and it wasn't long before he was able to comprehend that yet again a miracle had happened.

With tears of pain in his eyes, he slowly got to his feet, keeping his guard up and expecting to be attacked again at any moment. 

His opponent, however, was now thrashing on the ground while clawing at the breathing mask on their face. 

The metal breathing apparatus no longer emitted its mechanical hum and wheeze, signifying the effort of providing its user breathable air, but instead, it now buzzed angrily with the sound of jammed mechanical parts.

Still in a daze, Kaden watched his long-time enemy's movements become more sluggish as their already oxygen strained body used up the last of the air in their bloodstream. 

Even while recovering from his own bout of oxygen deprivation, Kaden soon came to the realization that victory was his at last. For whatever the reason, at the end of their insane battle, he still stood and Kor lay sprawled and helpless on the ground. 

A complete sense of satisfaction surged through Kaden's pain-racked body and a wide grin of triumph split across his face.

But, as the seconds ticked by and the sickening sounds of Kor's unanswered gasps for air continued to sting Kaden's ears, the grin he'd worn slowly began to fade and the brief feeling of elation drained from him. 

No matter how badly he had wanted to defeat Kor, to prove that he was superior once and for all, he had never wanted this. This wasn't victory... this was just sad.

Kaden's shoulders relaxed and his guard dropped. It seemed to go against everything he'd been feeling in recent memory, but he quickly made up his mind about what to do. 

Carefully, he stepped forward and kneeled down next to Kor before reaching for the dying Lombax's mask.

Kor's eyes, unfocused and on the verge of unconsciousness, were just barely able to perceive Kaden's presence and he realized what his opponent was trying to do. Immediately he swatted away Kaden's hand and glared bitterly up at his enemy. 

Kaden returned the glare and waited for the eyes to begin losing focus again, before re-attempting to reach for the mask. 

Kor once again tried to stop him by grabbing his hands, but he was too exhausted and oxygen-deprived to put up much of a fight.

Kaden would never be able to describe the strange feeling he experienced, which sat like a lump in his gut, as he easily overpowered Kor's feeble grip and began examining the breathing apparatus on his face.

Up to this point, whenever Kaden had thought about Kor Vol'terran, he had been filled with feelings of curiosity, anger, hate, vengeance, even occasional moments of fear, but at this moment, what he felt was completely alien to anything he'd felt before.

As he worked, Kaden continued to feel that small pang of pity. He felt pity for the poor Lombax who was unable to breathe without a mechanical aid and whose life was spent trapped in an armored shell at all times. 

And he felt concern.

Kaden felt concern for the person whose very existence left him baffled and confused. He felt concern for the person whose every encounter so far had made a mockery of him. He felt concern for the person that had tried their very hardest to kill him and had nearly succeeded twice. The most recent of which being just seconds ago.

Kaden felt concern for the person whose life was literally in his hands.

But, these were emotions Kaden would need to sort out later. For now, his main focus was on the task at hand. 

A forced calm and sense of clarity began to wash over him as he focused all of his attention on fixing Kor's mask. It marked the first time Kaden had felt calm when Kor was in his thoughts, let alone while he was kneeling right next to him.

The mask that Kor was wearing was one that would likely be worn by an ore miner or by a caustic chemicals technician. It had never been meant to be used during strenuous exercise or to be tossed around violently as Kor had done while training… and trying to murder Kaden. 

These extreme conditions had forced the heavily-taxed filter system to overheat, causing the small fan that drew in air to fuse to its housing. Without it, Kor needed to pull in air by the strength of his lungs alone, but with the density of the filtering system, such a task was the equivalent of breathing through a very thick, cotton pillow.

Luckily for Kor, however, the solution was simple. 

Kaden reached into one of his pockets and pulled out one of his many solid-state multi-tools. He quickly thumbed over its Thermal Scalpel attachment and pressed down on it, forcing a long needle-like tool to spring up from its body. 

The tan Lombax didn't hesitate for a moment, before driving the needle into the side of Kor's mask, burning an incision line straight through to the fan within. 

From there, Kaden poked around the likely areas where the device may have fused itself and cut it free where he found connections. The relief cuts didn't need to be precise, Kor only needed the fan to spin at just over half capacity to be able to breathe again… provided he didn't try to kill Kaden once more the moment he could.

With one final slice of metal, there was a resounding twang as the restrained intake fan was set free. Kaden was then rewarded with the relieving sound of humming fan blades spinning smoothly from within the mask. Kor's metal and plastic-encased chest swelled with air and the near-dead Lombax began to breathe again.

After Kaden was sure the there weren't any other problems with the apparatus, he withdrew his Thermal Scalpel, melting shut the hole he'd made in the process. 

Then, with a great sigh, he fell back into a sitting position, just a few feet from Kor.

Kor's eyes were open now, but they stared blankly up at the ceiling. The Lombax said nothing and made no signs that he was alive, other than the rhythmic rise of his chest and the grating sound his mask made when he breathed. 

Kaden was sure that he'd returned Kor's air supply to normal before any kind of brain damage would have occurred, but then again, organics was Varin's specialty, not his. Plus, the mummified Lombax had been doing a lot of oxygen draining activity before their little clash, so maybe Kor was braindead after all.

"That's twice now," rasped the prone Lombax suddenly. 

Kaden nearly jumped in surprise, still half worried that he'd be attacked again.

There was silence again for a short time as Kaden studied Kor's form suspiciously, "What is?" he asked at last with both curiosity and concern.

"To my people, being defeated in battle, even if the fight is survived, is the equivalent of losing one's life," Kor began before taking another long, rattling breath of air, "Now, I only live because of your actions... That's twice."

Silence fell again on the room and Kor still hadn't moved an inch. Kaden was thoroughly confused as to what Kor's words had meant, but, then again, he was still confused by a lot of things at the moment. 

He cautiously watched as his opponent/patient continue to lay sprawled on the floor and stare blankly up at the ceiling. Then Kaden saw something else to add to his confusion.

It was hard to tell, something that was barely noticeable, but also seemingly impossible... and yet, the very fact that he was questioning himself about it meant that there had to be something to it. 

Kor’s wide, blank eyes, which continued to stare straight up… they seemed to have too much liquid in them.

"Well, I can't say that I'm surprised," declared a gruff, but familiar voice.

Kaden looked up, still on edge, and found the grizzled, scarred face of Sergeant Ragnin standing in the entrance to the training room. Behind the old Lombax instructor stood two large, Nova Academy Security robots. 

The brown-furred instructor took a few steps forward and the two robots behind him spread out to either side of the room in accordance with the standard protocol of surrounding their targets.

As Ragnin continued to walk forward he slowly looked around the room... or what was left of it. After nodding a few times in what appeared suspiciously like approval, the sergeant finally came to a halt just a few feet from where Kaden sat.

The old Lombax grinned and bent down until his was head level with Kaden and looked him right in the eye, "The dean would like to see you now," he said with a worryingly excited smile, before then turning to Kor's still motionless form, "Both of you."


	3. Tor'doran

The sun hadn’t yet fully crested the distant horizon as Kaden and Kor were marched side by side from the Military Field area to the main academy plaza. 

In front of them, leading the way confidently and with a slight spring in his step, was Sergeant Ragnin and, walking in time behind them, were the two Nova Academy security bots who, with arm-embedded stun-rifles pointed at their backs, ensured that the two young Lombaxes followed the sergeant obediently. 

There were a few early bird students out and about by now. Some even cast the small group curious glances as they passed, but most steered clear of them, Ragnin's gleefully angry glare likely the cause.

So many confusing things had happened to Kaden in such a short time that his mind was on the breaking point of trying to process them all. 

Besides what had just happened in the fitness center a few minutes ago, he was now walking shoulder to shoulder with his de facto arch-rival. 

Kaden was at least relieved that Kor had put his goggles back on, though. The mysterious Lombax's eyes not only brought to mind ‘powerful’ emotions, but now strongly conflicting ones as well. Kaden felt sure that he'd probably never be able to look Kor properly in the eye again, not that he had been able to up until this point anyway.

Ragnin turned to his right once they'd entered the plaza and headed straight for the dean's administration office. The sergeant then led the two of them through the building's main doors, down a very long and dimly-lit hall and into a large room decorated with several sofas and cushioned chairs. 

This room appeared to be a waiting room of some kind, though the sergeant did not ask them to have a seat. Instead, he simply walked straight through the room and right up to a pair of massive double doors on the other side.

The sergeant came to a halt at the entrance and waved his hand over the control panel. The twin doors then began to slide open, but they did so with an agonizing slowness. 

Whether this was by intentional design or something that was simply inside Kaden's head was unclear.

The office that the doors eventually revealed was a huge, rectangular room. At one end of the office, embedded in the wall, was an extremely old-fashioned fireplace. The light from its inducted plasma fields cast dancing shadows eerily around the floor and walls as the group entered. 

Running along the room's center sat two parallel couches with an elongated coffee table nestled between them. These were clearly meant for less formal meetings and the group would likely not be using them.

And finally, at the far end of the long office, sat a sandy-furred, female Lombax at an oversized and ornate work desk. Behind her, two Nova Academy guard-bots stood at attention. However, unlike the two robots that stood behind Kaden’s group, the two behind the desk were advanced models and nearly double their size. 

They were motionless and, at first glance, might have been mistaken for decoration, but they stood sentinel over their master, flanking her defensively while eternally scanning the room for threats.

The woman herself was intently studying one of the many holo-screens that floated around her and did not even bother to look up as the group entered. 

As they got closer, the woman's face became clearer. Her one eyebrow was raised inquisitively while the other eye squinted darkly with irritation, displaying an odd mix of curiosity and anger in the same expression.

Completely oblivious to the dean's evident foul mood, or perhaps simply used to seeing it, Sergeant Ragnin marched his two charges up to the front of her desk and gestured for them to sit at one of the seats in front of it.

"Kaden and Kor here to see you, Vasile," informed Ragnin dutifully as he joined the two giant robot guards in standing behind her. "Fresh from wrecking more school property as well."

There was a slight, but sharp ear twitch from the dean at Ragnin's words, however, she still did not look up or acknowledge their presence.

Kaden and Kor sat motionless in their seats. It was deathly quiet after that. Neither of them knew what to expect, but just the anticipation alone was proving to be fairly disconcerting.

With a sudden, silence-shattering sigh, that was both loud and dripping with aggravation, Dean Tor'doran waved her hand across her desk and the holo-screens projected in front of her all disappeared. 

With eyes shut in contemplation, the woman behind the desk interlaced her fingers together and rested her elbows on the desk in front of her.

Then, at last, her eyes flashed open to glare at her two guests, "You're both expelled from the academy," she said flatly and without any sign of emotion or interest.

With practically identical reactions, both Kaden and Kor nearly fell out of their chairs in shock.

"W-what?!" choked Kaden as he fought to both cough out the saliva he'd suddenly breathed into his windpipe and talk at the same time.

He couldn't believe what he'd just been told. He'd expected all manner of horrible punishments and disciplinary actions, but to be ejected from the school completely? 

Even the usually unshakable Kor was showing signs of disbelief and anguish as the armrests of the chair he was gripping began to creak under the intense pressure of his hands, while the already grainy sound of his breathing became even rougher and more frequent.

Tor'doran, for her part, showed no signs of pity for the two young Lombaxes. 

On the contrary, her eyes only seemed to grow darker when she spoke next, "You heard me, brat. Nova Academy is a school for the most elite of the elite. I ‘can’ not, and ‘will’ not, tolerate such a willful disregard for even the most common moral decency. As of tomorrow, neither of you will be students of Nova Academy. You have until midnight tonight to collect your belongings and leave the school grounds before your status as students are revoked and the school security systems identify you as hostile." The dean spoke her last few words not as a warning, but as a blatant threat.

With his head spinning in an attempt to figure out how his punishment was justified or as to why he hadn't seen it coming, Kaden stood up combatively, "But... but… you can't do that! Expelled for a little hacking? Some property damage? That's ridiculous!" he argued angrily as his thoughts flew in disarray.

Tor'doran slammed her desk with her fists, causing a loud bang that made Kaden flinch reflexively and cower slightly, "No, what's ridiculous is 'you' telling 'me' what I can and cannot do at 'my' school. What's ridiculous is that you two do not understand your place here at Nova." As she continued to speak, her voice grew louder and her eyes grew more vicious and fierce, causing Kaden to come dangerously close to retaking his seat on survival instinct alone, "This is 'my' Academy. Here I am your god and deity. My word is almighty law and any breaking of those laws is sacrilege! Now, you two heretics had the arrogance to write your words of blasphemy on the very temple walls dedicated to your master and still think you can stay?!"

Kaden's head was still spinning in disbelief and confusion,  _ 'How can this be happening?' _ his mind kept asking himself over and over again with no answer in sight.

It was getting to the point that Tor'doran's words weren't even making sense to him anymore. 

But then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Sergeant Ragnin's expression mirrored his own bewilderment at her words, even as she continued, "I hope you enjoyed writing those pathetic scribbles you managed to amateurishly splatter across my buildings, because you effectively wrote it across the 'sign here' part of your death warrants." Tor'doran was getting into the rhythm of her tirade now and raised her arms up into the air dramatically as if lifting something large, which caused her sentinel robots to flex slightly in preparation for a command to attack, "Hear me now O' sinners, for your lord brings you judgment! I will cast you down from this mountain and draw-"

Unable to hold back anymore, Sergeant Ragnin quickly leaned forward and whispered something into the dean's ear, which made her stop mid-rant.

Tor'doran's previous look of curiosity mixed with irritation returned to her expression as she listened with her hands still in the air, "Well, where's the little furball who keeps putting graffiti on the administration building?" she demanded after Ragnin had finished speaking. Again, Ragnin whispered something in her ears. As Tor'doran listened she slowly lowered her arms and turned her irritated gaze on Kaden and Kor again, "Then who are these two idiots?"

Ragnin once again whispered into her ear, but this time Kaden had calmed down enough to focus his NID's audio analyzers and hear what he was saying, "This is Kaden and Kor… from the CtD incident a few days ago."

Sudden recognition lit up the dean's face, "Oh, Kor Vol'terran, our Red Sasquatch and the brainy little Science Fielder who likes to hack all of my school's systems!" she declared in a complete change of attitude. She then looked down and spoke to a small device sitting on her desk, "PIP, bring up the files on these two… and save that recording of my 'I am god' rant. I think I might want to use it again."

A tiny voice responded from the device she'd spoken to, "Right away, master."

A moment later, two new holo-screens were brought to life in a flash of light above Tor'doran's desk, "I'm sorry about that gentlemen," she began with absolutely no signs of remorse in her posture or tone, "I didn't recognize your face without your metal death mask," she said, gesturing to Kor, who hesitated at first, but then bowed his head in respect, "Or… your face without shards of metal decorating it," she added with a small and sadistic chuckle at her own joke. She then turned her focus to the new holo-screens that had been brought up before her.

Kaden was dumbfounded for what felt like the 'too many-ith' time in recent history, but he still needed to clarify the most important question, "So, we're ‘not’ expelled then?" he asked hesitantly.

Tor'doran waved her hand dismissively without turning back to look at him, "Of course not, I haven't enjoyed a CtD match that much since Fortis yanked out that one kid's eye." Another sadistic chuckle emanated from the dean's throat as she recalled the event.

From his peripheral vision, Kaden noticed Sergeant Ragnin also smile at the same memory while nodding his head subconsciously in approval. He then caught Kaden's eye as he realized what he was doing and quickly returned to a parade-rest stance with a stern face.

Slowly, Kaden's mind came to accept the fact that he 'wasn't' going to be expelled for the time being and he let out a huge breath of air. The tan Lombax then fell back into his seat, exhausted from stress alone.

After a few moments of reading each holo-screen, Tor'doran spoke again, "Let's see here… as far as the CtD incident goes: Kor, you've been marked as showing excessive and unnecessary violence toward your opponents during the last match and it has been recommended that you be reprimanded in order to help you understand the seriousness of your actions." The dean turned again to look straight at Kor with a firm expression, "Don't do that," she scolded lightly with a wag of her finger. As she did so, there was an obvious internal battle being waged within herself to stop from laughing again.

A sudden clang to his side made Kaden jump in surprise as Kor slammed his fist against his medical chest plate, "I will reflect on my actions," he said simply. 

Kaden had no way of knowing whether the mummified Lombax was being serious or not, but some part of him had the deeply disturbing suspicion that Kor was being totally sincere in both his reply and acceptance of Tor'doran's words at face value.

The dean nodded her approval to Kor before turning back to her holo-screen, "As for you Kaden: I am required to inform you personally that you are banned from any future CtD matches for the rest of the season and to ensure that you understand that, this being your first offense, more serious consequences will follow if you are ever caught rewriting any Nova Academy safety protocols in the future." She then turned to Kaden while wearing an identical (likely rehearsed) expression as the one she'd faced Kor with. "Disabling safety-net systems is bad, as they are there for a reason…" This time Tor'doran lost the battle and a sly smile cracked the corner of her lips, "Someone could end up getting seriously hurt otherwise."

Kaden was too far into this strange day, which that was only a few hours old, to push his luck, so he simply nodded his comprehension, "I understand," he confirmed and never had he felt like he'd spoken a greater lie in his life.

Tor'doran returned the gesture to him in acknowledgement before bringing her gaze to her screens, "Very good, that covers the CtD incident. You two 'would' be free to go now, if not for this new report of damage to the level 3 exercise room. Let's see here… The damage looks pretty bad, you boys really took a hammer to the place. Luckily, there's been a surprising decrease in the number of rival brawls that have broken out recently, so there's still plenty of bolts left in the 'idiots started a fight in the weight room' fund. That's actually probably thanks to you, Mr. Vol’terran,” she added with another gesture. “Since you beat the fur off of everyone you come across, they all declare you their rival, but they're also too chicken shit to challenge you outside of a sanctioned match, where the staff could pull their scrawny tails out of your metal fists if need be." Another grin, this one of genuine satisfaction, appeared on Tor'doran's face as she turned to Kor and Kaden once more, "Everything works out perfectly," she said happily, as if she very rarely got to say those words.

Unable to help himself, Kaden let out a small laugh of relief, "Haha… So there's no problem and we're not being punished?" he asked eagerly.

The dean raised an eyebrow in surprise at Kaden's words, "What? Oh… no, I'm sorry. What I should have said was, it all works out perfectly for 'me'. I tend to say everything is ok, so long as it's all good on my part, as that's all that really matters. Since I don't have to go outside the allocated budget funds, this means I don't have to do any extra holo-work," Tor’doran explained while a very pleased grin shone brightly on her face. "You two, on the other hand, still have a bit of a problem. Out of principle, I'm going to have to make you pay for all of the equipment you broke, plus a little extra for the sake of getting a tougher lesson through thicker skulls." At those words, Tor'doran gave a nod to Ragnin who replied to the gesture with a short bow and promptly left the room.

Kaden felt like he was about to jump out of his seat again, "But I was the one who got attacked, Kor started it! Plus he'd already destroyed half the equipment by the time I got there!"

Tor'doran shifted her gaze over towards Kor, "Mr. Vol'terran, is this true?"

Kor immediately looked away from the dean's gaze in a manner that practically answered the question itself, "I… don't particularly remember who was responsible for what damage," he said, much to Kaden's chagrin.

However, Tor'doran simply shrugged indifferently, "It doesn't matter really, I'm not actually saying either of you are responsible for the damage, I'm saying that I am going to ‘blame’ you and make you cover the costs."

Kaden was now practically shaking with anger at being held responsible for something that was mostly not his fault… mostly, and a familiar hatred began to stir as he stood up and looked down at Kor, "This is all your fault, you tube-sucking lunatic!" he shouted angrily to the one Lombax that always seemed to be the cause of his misery. "You just have to go and break everything you touch like some over-muscled gorilla don't you?"

Kor stood up at Kaden’s challenge and faced his enemy menacingly, causing the tan-furred Lombax to remember how intimidating he was, even when wrapped in medical equipment, "The only thing I truly want to break is the one thing that truly deserves to be broken."

Watching from her seat, Tor'doran sighed and snapped her fingers. Immediately, the two robot guards behind her deployed multi-barreled chain guns from their off hands and pointed them at Kaden and Kor, etching twin lines of red targeting lasers through the air, coming to a stop at either Lombaxes’ foreheads.

"Sit Down," the dean said calmly and in a voice dripping with authority.

Kaden's body acted almost on its own as he and Kor retook their seats.

Tor'doran eyed them both coolly and with a stern expression for a few more moments before interlacing her fingers again, "I've been the dean at this academy for a ‘very’ long time and, in that time, I've learned to recognize certain patterns. Even though you both nearly died over it, this little rivalry between you two shows no signs of cooling off anytime in the foreseeable future. Usually, the next step is that one of you actually kills the other, or I end up expelling one of you for blowing half the Military Field off the side of the mountain. Now, I don't want to have to pay to repair a whole sixth of the Academy, or worse… explain to a grieving parent why their kid got wasted on academy property, so ‘we're’ going to nip this in the bud, right now. And in the process, do some good by making you pay for my new hoverca- er… the replacement fitness equipment."

Tor'doran brushed off her near slip of the tongue casually and put her hands at her sides before suddenly floating upward several inches. She then turned in her hoverchair and glided over to a cabinet attached to the wall on their side. The chair came to halt just in front of the cabinet's doors and with a wave of her hand, they opened to allow her access.

Whatever Kaden had been thinking or whatever emotions he'd been feeling up to that point had been swept aside the moment he'd recognized the model and grade of the dean's hoverchair. He could tell instantly that it had not been built simply as an office seat.

Completely forgetting about the tense and possibly dire situation he was in, Kaden spoke his thoughts without meaning to, "You can't walk," he stated bluntly as if trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

Tor'doran's ears twitched at the comment and she growled with irritation, but didn't even bother to turn around when she replied, "How observant of you," she said dryly while continuing to search through the cabinet. "I'm so glad to see that the effort of building the most advanced learning facility in the galaxy has not gone to waste, as evidenced by your brilliant deductive skills."

Kaden realized what he'd said and regretted how inappropriate it was, but his surprise was not completely unwarranted. It was, in fact, very unusual to see someone have such a disability in modern times. The Lombax civilization was in a golden age of technological advancement, in comparison to the rest of the galaxy, which had all but eliminated such physical limitations. It was now considered a routine medical procedure to regrow and reattach even entire limbs.

Even if a patient's problem was not the legs themselves, but their nervous system, the problem could still be fixed with proper medical care. 

Even in the case of someone being born without the section of brain necessary operate a pair of legs, they could still be outfitted with synthetic ones and operate them using their NID system.

Kaden's mind quickly ran through the possibilities. There was a chance that Tor'doran's situation was a result of an injury and that she was recovering from severe nerve damage or perhaps she'd lost her legs completely and they'd only recently been regrown. This would mean her situation was a temporary one. 

The only other possibility was that the dean had refused the medical operations that would allow her to walk for sentimental reasons, which Kaden couldn't possibly fathom. 

The problem with either theory was that Vasile Tor'doran didn't seem like the person who would care for being immobile in any way. In fact, Kaden pictured her as being someone who'd chop their legs off and replace them with robotic ones the second they began to slow her down.

Amongst the vast array of possibilities that his mind was considering, Kaden had just enough mental capacity left over to complete his social obligation, "I'm sorry," he said in apology of his comment.

But Kaden's apology only seemed to make the dean even more irritated as she yanked out an ornate metal box for the cabinet before hovering back to her previous position at her desk.

There, she proceeded to stare down Kaden with an icy glare, "Don't you start thinking that just because my legs don't work, that I can't still put my foot up your tail side," she threatened seriously.

Kaden simply nodded.

Tor'doran eyed him for a few more seconds, then she placed the box on her desk before pressing her finger against the DNA lock on its front, causing it to beep sharply and pop open slightly. 

"Come here," the Dean ordered of them both.

Kaden and Kor both stood up and approached the desk. Inside the box were three, oval-shaped rocks that were ornately carved from what appeared to be some kind of stone.

"Each of you take one," Tor’doran commanded.

Kor and Kaden each reached their hands forward and removed one of the stones. 

As they held the object in their fingers, lines of light suddenly began etching themselves throughout the stone's surface.

"These are security verification ID stones," explained the dean. "With the proper interface, they will prove your identities to whatever authority demands it."

Kaden turned over the strange rock in his hand, "This isn't Lombax technology," he noted, not as a question, but as a simple statement of observation.

Tor'doran nodded with what looked like mild, but sincere approval, "Very good. No, they're not Lombax made, they're Kerchu designed. You'll be needing them for your mission."

Kaden blinked several times in mild surprise, "What mission?" he asked. He wasn't actually ‘surprised’, so much as he was greatly concerned.

Dean Tor'doran turned to speak to her desk device again, "Pip, if you'd please," she said before turning around and facing to the side of the room.

The tiny voice that was Pip responded obediently, "Yes, madam," and a moment later a large holo-screen popped into life on the wall to Kaden's right. It had an image of a large, mostly green, planet displayed on it.

"Planet Sargasso," the dean stated informatively, "It is technically a Kerchu territory, but the place is so hostile that it's only real value is for its rich gelatonium wells. The Kerchu have been drilling on this planet for centuries, but their technology is too primitive to effectively find new wells under the deep swamps that cover most of the planet's surface."

Tor'doran then waved her hand through the air and several images of gelatonium mining rigs replaced the planetary one on the holo-screen, "Just over a century ago, the Kerchu finally tapped the last of the wells that they could easily find on their own, so they came to the Lombaxes for help. However, it was and still is a Grand Council-issued law that only Lombaxes may use advanced Lombax technology. To work around this restriction, someone came up with the idea of simply sending a contingent of Lombaxes to operate the equipment in person. This group would locate the new drilling sites on Sargasso themselves, then they would sell the information itself to the Kerchu."

Tor'doran waved her hand again and the images were replaced once more, this time with one of a Lombax surveyor team posing alongside several Kerchu in front of a spewing geyser of gelatonium. 

"Over time,” the Dean continued, “the routine of waving a few high-grade Crust Piercers around, while trudging knee-deep through stinking swampland has been deemed mundane enough to be a good, 'hands-on' learning opportunity for students here at Nova. We've held the contract for the operation ever since. A recent spike in the gelatonium markets has made our Kerchu partners eager to open up several new drilling sites and they have requested that another surveying team be sent as soon as possible. That's where you two come in." The Dean leaned forward in her chair and returned her attention to Kaden and Kor, which caused the holo-screens to vanish as well. "I will be using your shares of the contract fee as repayment for the damages you caused."

Kaden had already deduced the gist of what Tor'doran had wanted almost the second he'd seen the image of Sargasso appear on the wall, but he had waited for her to finish before choosing to voice his 'dissatisfaction' of her plan… but he didn't get a chance to.

"Then, we are going off world?" questioned Kor and Kaden was surprised to hear the other Lombax speak out suddenly. 

In truth, he'd almost forgotten Kor was even there, so focused was he on Tor'doran and the situation at hand.

Tor'doran raised an eyebrow at Kor, "Is there a problem, Vol'terran?"

Kor didn't respond immediately and Kaden was taken aback by the hesitance in his grainy voice, "I… I have never been off-planet before," he explained as timidly as a static-riddled, synthetic voice could sound.

As if to add to the strange out-of-character vibe that Kaden was feeling, Dean Tor'doran nodded her head several times understandingly, "I see. Well, I certainly appreciate that your circumstances are unique. Your people don't venture away from your island much, do they? I imagine that simply leaving such a home to study here must not have been easy, let alone flying out of the solar system to another planet." She then leaned back in her chair and gestured toward the box on her desk, "Very well then, I won't force you to do this."

Kaden was both shocked and angry at the same time, "So what, the damage is all his fault and he gets let off the hook just because he's a little homesick?" he demanded accusingly.

The dean glanced at Kaden with a bored expression, "Oh, shut up," she snapped sharply. "Don't act like you could understand what it's like to be taken from your home and thrust into such a vastly different world." 

Kaden was completely taken aback by Tor'doran's apparent one-eighty turn in personality.

Kor nodded his thanks before reaching forward once more and placing his ID stone back in its box.

"In fact, Mr. Vol'terran," Tor'doran continued, returning her attention to Kor and speaking in a voice that was oddly soft and would be almost comforting had it come from anyone else, "why don't I have the  _ Quasar Express _ come to pick you up? I could have you back home before this time tomorrow. I know you spent your whole vacation period here at the Academy, so I bet you miss Magnaron, yes?" Tor'doran's current personality shift was very off-putting, but at the same time, Kaden was beginning to get a very bad feeling. "And then you can just stay there," she added in a tone that had completely dropped any and all signs of warmth.

The room fell under a heavy silence for a moment as Kor processed the dean's words, "I… I don't understand?" he asked with as much confusion as Kaden felt.

"Oh, it's quite simple," she began coldly, "You see, there are, unfortunately, very few occasions here on Fastoon that require military force. Therefore, the vast majority of 'Military' Field students should expect to go off-world relatively soon from the time they become admitted here; it's part of the job. This invariably means that any student of the Military Field who gets weak-kneed and cries for their mommy every time they're told to leave the planet is effectively worthless to both the academy and, more importantly, to me. In that case, Kor Vol'terran, you don't have to go on this mission, but instead, you will be expelled and sent back home where you can nurse your insecurities at your leisure."

The verbal lashing that the dean had just unleashed was so painful that Kaden nearly winced himself. He almost felt bad for Kor… almost. But the tirade didn't end there. Before Kor could offer a rebuttal or an apology, the dean fired another barrage at his ego,

"It's a shame really," mused Tor'doran with a voice that was almost playful, in the sense that cat might play with a mouse. Tormenting it, but not killing it right away, "The first Lombax from your clan to leave the island and attempt to integrate with the Demari since the Great War... and it had to be you? Since that makes you the only example we have to go on, Nova Academy will have to consider your entire people to be as cowardly and weak as you are. I guess all those stories of heroes were just that… stories."

Kaden didn't look to his side, despite his vastly curious urge to see the effect the words had had on Kor. Instead, he contented himself with listening to strained, mechanical breathing and the insanely rapid thumping noise that was likely fluid being pumped through his medical recycler in time with his heartbeat.

The three Lombaxes sat in relative silence until at last Kor made a move. With a hand that was shaking from barely controlled anger, he reached forward to retake the stone he'd just put back.

"What are you doing?" asked a voice that was so cold, Kaden could feel ice start to crystallize in his veins.

Kor's hands froze in place just above the ID stone box. When he spoke the voice was intermittent and barely contained, "I… for... the mission."

Tor'doran looked Kor directly in his covered eyes with a stare that was as dark and chilling as it was amused, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid there are no more spots available for the Sargasso Gelatonium Geo-Survey mission. I guess you missed your opportunity."

The hand that was held in place above Tor'doran's desk shook even more violently than before as it closed into a fist that was so tight, Kaden could see the medical wrap around it start to burst under the pressure.

"I…" Kor's voice began to say again. The pauses between the words were even more intermittent, "can't… can't… go back… not… not with..."

"Hmmmmm," intoned Tor'doran with mock thoughtfulness. "I suppose there ‘are’ one or two strings I could pull," she then brought the full intensity of her gaze back on Kor, "but that would depend on how badly you wanted to do it."

There was silence again and the dean folded her arms while waiting patiently for a reply. The only sounds that could be heard were the deep intakes of air being sucked into Kor's mask so rapidly that Kaden was worried the medical-equipment-encased Lombax might hyperventilate at any second. 

Somewhere deep in Kaden's mind he felt a mild sense of pleasure at seeing his rival under such duress, but for some reason, the rest of his mind ordered his eyes to look away as the other Lombax, still shaking in barely contained emotion, slowly bent his body at the waist and bowed his head so deep that his forehead was almost touching the dean's desk,

"P-please… allow me… to serve… on this… this mission."

The dean’s lips moved from one side of her mouth to the other as she pretended to consider Kor's request, "Hmmm, I guess I can make an exception… since you want to do it 'so' badly. Very well then, you may go on the mission. You should be grateful that I'm such a considerate person."

Kor's head remained bowed for a few seconds as he reaffirmed his forced composure, "T-thank… you," he said through what Kaden had to assume was gritted teeth, before reaching forward again, picking up the ID rock once more and then retaking his seat. Kor spent the rest of the meeting as an unmoving statue with his head hung in shame.

Tor'doran grinned with satisfaction, "Good, then if there are no other questions-"

"Why are there three?" asked Kaden suspiciously.

There was a mild groan as the dean gave Kaden a look that said she hadn't actually wanted to be asked any more questions, "It's a back-up," she answered with disregard.

Kaden was wholly unconvinced by her answer, "Kerchu Identification Stones have their digital programming engraved into the stone itself, making them virtually unchangeable. This makes them hard to tamper with, but then they become limited to only a single kind of use. I'm guessing since you didn't tell us which stone we could grab, they're all encrypted with the same clearance data, meant for the same mission, so… who gets the third one?"

The dean eyed Kaden for several moments before finally letting out a sigh, "Very observant," she said again, except this time it didn't feel like a compliment. "The standard contract for this mission dictates that there be three members to the excursion team and it outlines the proficiency requirements. Basically, two students from the Military Field are to act as bodyguards/assistants to one student from the Science Field. Luckily though, Kaden, you happen to be proficient enough in both the Military and the Science Fields, so I am able to submit your name twice without arousing suspicion. This saves me the hassle of having to pay for a whole, legitimate member of the team's services." The dean finished her explanation with an air self-satisfaction and pride at her own cleverness.

"So what?" wondered Kaden aloud, "Your plan is to get just the two of us to work together in a situation where we're likely to wind up dead if we don't. Then I suppose we'll come to understand one another or something? That sounds like a cliché scene written by some amateur novelist."

Tor'doran stared back at Kaden with what looked surprisingly like serious contemplation for an unnervingly long period of time, "That's actually a really good idea," she declared in amazement, "but no… I'm just hoping that at least one of you two gets eaten by a Grunthor. It will solve this little problem between you two by getting to the end result much faster and I'll have a decent explanation for your parents and or guardians. Thanks for the idea though, I'll definitely spin the story that way if anyone asks about why I did it."

At this point in the chapter, Kaden wasn't even surprised by the dean's actions and he had finally decided that he'd had enough, "I refuse," he stated flatly before crossing his arms and returning the dean's cold gaze.

Tor'doran narrowed her eyes into a very menacing glare, "Then you'll be expelled," she responded in a tone that was almost equally as flat and controlled, but hinted at an underlying impatience.

Kaden simply shrugged with disinterest, "That's better than dying in a swamp on another planet just so you can save a few bolts."

Tor'doran eyed Kaden up and down while tapping a finger thoughtfully on her desk, "Yes, I see. Unlike Mr. Vol'terran here, things like reputation and honor mean nothing to ‘you’. Someone like ‘you’ wouldn't care about being expelled from Nova. That brings up the question, however, as to why then, you wanted to come here so badly."

Kaden raised an eyebrow curiously, "I didn't 'want' to come here," he countered calmly. "Nova Academy doesn't take applications, it seeks out and selects its students on its own accord."

The dean nodded in full agreement with Kaden's statement, but she did so with a knowing smile splitting her face, "That is very true. Then I guess the 'real' question is, what could possess a young bax to hack his way through twelve levels of some of the most advanced cybersecurity on the planet, just to add his name to a pool of new student candidates."

Kaden felt his heart skip a beat as the dean nonchalantly revealed what he'd thought was one of his best-kept secrets. He was left utterly speechless.

Upon seeing a satisfactory reaction to her words, the knowing grin on Tor'doran's face twisted even wider to resemble that of a shark closing in on its next meal, "Of course I was curious about it at the time too; it played a large part in the reason why I pushed your name through anyway. You see, Kaden, even people like you, who care about so very little, still have that 'little' something they care about. It's just a matter of pinpointing it. So, care to tell me 'why'?"

A terrible feeling of foreboding dropped like a rock into the pit of Kaden's stomach, "I-It sounded like fun," the young Lombax tried to answer without making it obvious how disturbed he was by the revelation. "I was about to graduate from basic education and I thought Nova Academy would be the most interesting place to go next… with the lowest number of idiots to bother me."

Tor'doran laughed at Kaden's words, which was all the more disconcerting, "Tote your abilities all you want, Kaden, getting through that much security couldn't have been easy, even for you. A single zero placed where a one should have been and you would have brought some of the most powerful people on the planet to your doorstep. I'm sure you're smart enough to figure out that those who survive Nova through regular methods, and subsequently become said powerful people, ‘really’ take offense to someone trying to make it through the system any other way."

In a complete change of tone, the dean sighed heavily and leaned forward in a serious manner, "Let's cut to the chase then. At your old school, you may have been top in all your classes, but thanks to several disciplinary issues and the vast ocean of politics associated with an upper-class school, you were still a year away from graduation before you came to Nova. I knew that it was no coincidence, you trying to get into Nova when you did, and surprisingly I only had to look as far as the new student rosters to find two likely reasons for it. Now I'm assuming that one of those reasons is probably far more significant to you than the other, but that doesn't really matter…" The weight in Kaden's stomach felt like it had doubled in mass as Tor'doran's eyes bore down into his with a deadly piercing force, "What does matter, Kaden, is that I am more than willing to destroy two, measly futures to get what I want. And right now… I want you to go on a little mission for me."

Kaden could feel his heart rate increase as he squared off against the dean. He quickly told his mind to calm down and to focus on the logic of the fight at hand. 

He'd already decided that being expelled wasn't an issue for him. It wasn't ideal, but still a preferable option over Sargasso. The other part of the threat, however, was not an option, but that went both ways. 

Despite how crazy and power-mad she appeared, Vasile Tor'doran was still the dean of Nova Academy. There was no way she would go so far just to make one student obey her. 

Swallowing hard to steel himself, Kaden stiffened his back and showed his resolve.

To this, the dean smiled wickedly, "I guess it's the hard way then," she said before waving her hand over her desk once more and a new holo-screen popped into existence in front of her. "Did you know that the Military Field has an award that they give out every semester for the most uniquely interesting Modern Military Tactics thesis paper for level two students? I'm sure winning it would make even the tightest-sphinctered parent proud. I have a list here of this year's recommended papers and one of these names looks familiar."

These words were followed by a soft beep, emanating from the dean's holo-screen that rang so loudly in Kaden's ears that he thought his eardrums might burst. The sound wasn't specific, it was just a default tone used by many computer devices when a user performs an action, but the action that this particular beep signified was… fairly obviously implied.

Still, Kaden refused to back down.  _ 'It had to be a bluff,' _ he thought. There was no other logical explanation for what the dean was doing. 

Again he returned the dean's sadistic gaze and displayed his resolve.

The dean studied her student's reaction carefully before continuing, "I bet you're searching for a 'logical' reason for what's happening here, am I right?" she asked knowingly. "You probably think that I would never actually do such a cruel thing for such a small reason, but that's just because you're placing your own values on my actions... how naïve. You see, Kaden, at the end of the day, I am an educator and my number one priority is first and foremost to teach… and I 'will' have you learn this lesson, even if it kills you." The Dean's eyes narrowed, "Have you ever heard of Andrei Morati von Antelakovich?"

Within the time it took for Kaden's heart to beat once, he had already searched through his mind's archive of all the people he knew either personally or were of interest to him, but there was none with a name that matched the one Tor'doran had said. It took up to the second beat before the electrical signals in his brain hit the neurons containing the memory where he'd heard the name. After that memory had been fully recalled, his heart skipped the third beat.

Just before the CtD match against the Gold Bolts, Sorana had been telling him about a certain famous Harmonixium player whose skill was practically legend. This certain famous Harmonixium player was also very old and rarely took on new students. She had explained how this certain Harmonixium player had recently offered an opportunity for a few promising individuals to study under him and that she had put forth her name for consideration. This certain famous Harmonixium player went by the name of Andrei Morati von Antelakovich.

Tor'doran's wickedly sadistic grin twisted back onto her lips as she watched the recognition show on Kaden's face that meant she didn't need to bother with an explanation as she raised her hand to the holo-screen once more.

"Wait, I-" Kaden tried to say, but there was no mercy in the dean's eyes as the soft-action beep of the computer resounded once again.

The next thing Kaden knew, the weight that had been growing in his stomach had exploded, flooding the rest of his body with what felt like freezing liquid, making it heavier and colder by the second. He could feel his chest tighten as his heart strained to pump his now seemingly viscous blood.

"I can play this game all day, Kaden," Tor'doran assured her student as she leaned back in her chair, "but I would hope that this is enough. Well... ‘this’ and once I point out that the only reason these innocent bystanders have to suffer is solely because of their association with ‘you’."

Kaden could barely hear anything anymore as his world spun and his brain grasped at thin air in its attempt to find answers. His instincts told him to argue, to fight the dean and find a different way out of it, but every time he opened his mouth to do so, he was forced to look back into the dean's unyielding eyes that clearly told him there would be no compromise. 

Every scenario he could think of, every argument his mind tried to make, they all died in his throat before they could even be said. 

Eventually, the young Lombax fell back into his seat with a look of sheer, dumbfounded disbelief frozen on his face.

Tor'doran studied the expression and postures of the two students in front of her before giving them one final nod, "Oh good, it looks like we're all finally on the same page. Later today, you will both be receiving a mission briefing file about your assignment. This file will contain everything you need to know about when and where you need to be and what you need to do and bring. I've already added the necessary allergy inoculations to your medical regimens and as soon as you're both cleared by the medical staff to return to active duty, your mission will officially begin. Then it's off to Sargasso."

Dean Vasile Tor'doran of Nova Academy then waved her hands toward the large, double-doored entrance of the room, which slid open as she did so, "Now…" she began conclusively as she relaxed her posture and gave the two of them one final, soul-piercing glare, "Get out of my office…"


	4. Sargasso

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have an easily playable copy of Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction, I suggest doing a playthrough of the planet Sargasso. A lot of side comments and actions happen in the next few chapters that tie in subtly with the gameplay and story. It also helps with the visualization.

Kaden shoved another piece of clothing into his traveling case, more violently than he'd done the previous piece, or the piece before that. With each proceeding item he packed inside the container, his anger grew. 

It had been just over three days since he'd met the Academy's dean and he had just recently been cleared for active duty by the medical staff. 

Just as promised, his mission timer had started the second his status had been updated. He was now leaving for Sargasso in just over an hour, but it was unlikely that his temper would hold out until then.

By the time he’d packed all of his clothing, he'd had enough, "Shut up," the irritated Lombax growled, unable to hold back any longer.

The white-furred Lombax sitting at Kaden's desk shrugged, "I didn't say anything," he replied calmly, the broad smile that split his handsome features remaining unaffected.

Kaden glared darkly at the now, mostly full, suitcase, "You were thinking it loud enough," he insisted, without turning to face his provoker.

Varick laughed in amusement, "Yes, well I did warn you about getting on Tor'doran's radar, didn't I?"

"You were also the one that pushed me to settle matters with Kor," Kaden countered bitterly. 

Varick scoffed at the words and his expression turned to one of mock indignation, "Huh, you were practically on the battlefield already by the time my hand even reached your back. Besides, I never told you to break any rules in the process."

Kaden angrily grumbled a halfhearted retort that was so weak he didn't actually want Varick to hear it. Then, with a mighty push and a click, his bag was packed and he wasted no time before hammer-throwing it across the room. 

The object flew through the air, past where Varick was sitting, and sailed out the doorway, knocking over the robot who'd been standing outside of it.

Varick made a slight, disappointed shake of his head, "That will be everything, James. You can go now," he said to his personal robotic servant.

James, the robot who'd been laid flat by Kaden's bag, jumped back to his feet energetically, "Yes, sir," he replied in a cheerful demeanor, which showed no signs that he was at all fazed from being assaulted with luggage.

Varick watched his mechanical aide leave before turning back to the angry, tan Lombax with a serious expression, "Now, I should hope I don't have to tell you this, but during your mission, you absolutely must ‘not’ fight with Kor. Tor'doran's punishments may be harsh, but she takes disobedience while carrying them out as a direct insult. If you really want to get back at her, then prove to her that you're not just a rule-breaking failure and make it through this without issue."

Kaden bit back the snarky retort that came instantly to his mouth at the mention of Tor'doran's name, but he knew that what Varick was saying was the truth. 

"Yeah, yeah," he eventually mumbled quietly, before throwing his backpack over his shoulder and heading out of his room.

Varick stood up to leave as well and smiled once more while he watched Kaden move further away from him, "Oh, and do try not to die. Besides the considerable investment I've already put into you, I'd hate to lose ‘another’ bet with my colleagues due to my overestimation of your abilities."

Kaden stopped walking as another retort worked its way up towards his jaw. While the main reason he shouldn't reply was the fact that he knew Varick was obviously goading him for his own twisted pleasure, he also knew that any response on his part was inherently flawed. 

The reason Varick's words stung so deeply was the very reason Kaden couldn't refute them. It was an undeniable fact that he'd almost died last time and that he'd overestimated his own abilities.

After a long moment of silence, Kaden simply continued walking forward without saying another word.

* * *

Kaden arrived at the Military Field starport to find James waiting patiently for him. 

His luggage was nowhere in sight, so he assumed that the robotic servant must have stowed it already, which was impressively efficient, given the fact that he'd only had a few minutes head start.

"Right this way, sir," directed James cheerfully as Kaden approached. "The shuttle to Mr. Adjunaris' ship is set to leave in just a few minutes."

Kaden simply nodded and followed James' lead.

It was only a short while before they reached the boxy space vehicle that would take him up to Varick's interplanetary research vessel, where it waited in low orbit to depart for Sargasso. Kaden took a moment to marvel once again at how a student here at the academy possessed such resources.

James began to speak again as they entered the shuttle, "Master Varick has given you permission to use the  _ Slipstream _ free of charge, as its scheduled flight itinerary will take it quite close to Sargasso. Such freely given gestures are quite rare for my master to offer, you must be very important to him."

Kaden rolled his eyes at the comment. James' words only made sense if he swapped the word 'important' with 'valuable'. Regardless, Varick Adjunaris always got something out of anything he did, so if this trip was 'free', then there was definitely some other way that the manipulative President of the Science Field was going to get 'paid'.

And it didn't take long before Kaden figured out just what Varick was after, either.

"Though your shuttle will be docking aboard the  _ Slipstream _ , you have not been given clearance to enter the ship's interior," explained James as they stood in the opened hatchway of the shuttle. "It will take us approximately five hours to reach our destination. Once in low orbit over Sargasso, this shuttle will depart once more for the planet's surface. Do either of you have any concerns before we leave?"

Kaden didn't say anything at first, he simply glared silently at the red-armored Lombax already seated in the shuttle’s passenger cabin. 

As he did, however, he studied the current Kor in great detail. 

The first thing he noticed was how horribly damaged his antagonist’s armor was. Clear indications of the superheating it had recently gone through were evident in the way that its edges were twisted and warped as if the metal were made of wax. 

While the functional damage had been extensively repaired, it would appear that whatever armorsmith had taken on the job was unable to save the suit’s helmet.

Kor's face was covered as usual, but not with his now famous G-83 helmet or his goggles/breathing mask combination. Instead, he wore an old, I-94 Light combat helmet. 

The helmet’s design was part of the ancient ‘I’ series armor set, the successor to the G series, but it offered only light protection. It did, however, cover the wearer's ears in a strong carbon-nanofiber weave which allowed a solid, airtight seal over the head without constricting the user's ears. 

Unlike the Crimson-heavy color scheme of the G series, this helmet was painted green, which, actually complimented Kor's red armor nicely, but threw Kaden off, as he was used to seeing all red whenever he saw Kor… or thought of him.

Beyond its solitary occupant, the shuttle room itself was set up like a combat dropship. Two cushioned benches lined either side, dotted with seating harnesses at measured intervals. Kor sat at the farthest end of one bench and had been staring out of the nearest port window. 

The armored Lombax had turned around to face Kaden's gaze as he’d entered, but only for a moment, before he seemed to quickly lose interest and return his attention to the window.

Kaden's eye twitched with irritation at the slight insult, but he quickly pushed the emotion away.

With a blank expression on his face, the tan Lombax asked a question, "James, when you say we can't enter the ship, do you mean that we won't be allowed to leave this shuttle during the whole trip?"

"Yes, sir," answered the ever cheerful robot.

"And, if I were to ask to leave the shuttle, even to simply sit in ship's hangar area, your answer would be?" Kaden asked next, knowing the response already.

"No... sir," smiled James in a way that reminded Kaden far too much of Varick.

It was almost as if he could see the grinning, white-furred Lombax enjoying his torment in James' place. There was a brief moment where Kaden considered arguing, but his shoulders quickly drooped and he gave a conceding sigh before walking forward into the room. 

In truth, this situation fit his plans perfectly, though that did not mean he was happy about it.

"Very good, sir," continued James upon registering the tan Lombax's submission, confirming Kaden's suspicion that his positronic mind was completely aware of the tension in the air. "Should either of you two need anything, you may contact me through the comm unit in the wall. I will be in the cockpit acting as your shuttle pilot." James then bowed deeply and left, sealing the doorway shut behind him as he did.

Kaden walked on eggshells his whole way to the seat across from Kor. Under normal circumstances, he'd have chosen the seat that was as far away from the armored Lombax as possible, but again, his plan deemed this discomfort necessary. 

He'd had several days of recovery time to think about his current situation and he had not spent it doing nothing. Kaden knew from the mission briefing files that the dean wasn't just trying to scare him when she’d said the mission was dangerous. The reality of his situation, no matter how much the very core of his being was loath to admit it, was that he needed Kor's help if he was to guarantee his own survival.

This meant that he had to bury his pride so that he could bury the hatchet with his enemy. 

The first part of that plan had taken him all the way until this very moment to do, but the second part would prove a little trickier. He needed to start a conversation with the silent Lombax, but there seemed to be no opportunity at present.

Kor hadn't moved a centimeter since Kaden had entered and, of course, that meant his eyes hadn't shifted away from the window either. 

It was hard enough under normal circumstances to gauge the mysterious Lombax's mood while he was totally encased in armor. This left only his subtle body language and almost emotionally-void, static-riddled words as the only clues. 

Kaden briefly mused about what a pain in the tail end a character like Kor would be to write about, but quickly shook the useless thought from his mind and refocused his attention on the task at hand, looking for an opportunity to engage.

However, Kor seemed quite determined to stare out of his window and not look at Kaden at all. The two sat in complete silence for several minutes and Kaden could only assume that the reason for this was that Kor's hatred of him matched his own. That did not bode well for his plan. 

It wasn't just the lack of eye contact either (or, eye-visor contact as the case would be), it was also the stiffness in Kor's posture that warned of ill will. 

Kaden wasn't exaggerating when he’d noted that Kor hadn't moved a centimeter. The armored Lombax's body was so stiff and rigid that Kaden's survival instincts were starting to buzz. Tension like that indicated someone whose body was ready for action at an instant's notice, as if they were sensing danger and expecting to be attacked at any moment… or planning to do the attacking.

Kaden's mind was reflexively starting to drain focus away from the dwindling hope that he could reconcile with Kor to survive Sargasso and was instead, putting it to the effort of just trying to figure out if they'd make it to Sargasso at all. 

This point was then made abundantly more concerning when Kaden felt a light rumble and hum of energy that meant that their shuttle was preparing to take off, reminding him that they hadn't even left yet.

But something happened after that which clashed with the reality in Kaden's mind. 

Despite the air around Kor seeming to grow more tense and dangerous by the second, the armored Lombax's form also seemed to shy away from him ever so slightly. As if he were afraid of Kaden.

_ ‘No, that wasn't right,’  _ Kaden thought to himself as he reconsidered the evidence.

Kor wasn't subtly trying to put distance between the two of them... he was slowly inching away from the porthole that he had been so intently staring through. 

The floor and walls of the room shook more intensely as the ship's thrusters ignited, causing it to lift off from the port. 

The moment this happened, Kaden saw another strange sight: he noticed that Kor's armored fist was now slowly crushing the front edge of his seat, which he'd already been gripping vice-like since before Kaden entered.

_ 'No way…' _ Kaden's mind refuted in disbelief,  _ 'He couldn't be…' _

As the ship pulled away from the docking station and began heading toward Fastoon's upper atmosphere, the shaking within the room became much more intense. So much so, that it almost completely hid the nervous twitching that was now evident in Kor's posture.

Kaden, a veteran of spaceflight, was as relaxed as if he were on the ground. He simply studied his fellow passenger with fascination while the shuttle climbed ever higher.

Then, he decided that now was as good a time as any, “First time flying past the atmosphere?” Kaden asked in what he hoped to be a friendly and non-threatening tone.

But Kor did not respond, or even show signs that he’d heard the question.

“I remember my first-time off-planet,” Kaden continued. Then, in as non-insulting a voice as he could muster, he said, "It can be ‘frightening’, can’t it?"

Kor's whole body jolted with a single twitch that was amplified throughout every limb by his stiff posture. 

Very slowly, or perhaps carefully, the armored body began to sit upright again. It was amazing how much taller Kor looked once he wasn't subtly hunched away from the window anymore.

The metal-encased Lombax then turned his expressionless, armored head away from the window and fixed his fellow passenger with what was probably a harsh glare, "There is nothing in this universe that I am afrai-" A sudden bout of turbulence shook the shuttle violently, causing Kor to redouble his grip on his seat, twisting the metal edge as if it were made of soft plastic. 

Kaden made extra sure to not show any signs on his face that he'd noticed anything. 

After the worst of the shaking had stopped, Kor loosened his grip once more and stared at Kaden in silence for a few more seconds before continuing, "I am simply… ‘concerned’ for you Demari and your obsession with heights."

Kaden thought the statement was odd, but then he briefly reflected on how he himself had grown up in an apartment that was built roughly two miles above the planet's original ocean level, how he frequently flew his hoverboard around the tallest buildings (which were closer to four miles high), and that the two of them had just left a school that was based on top of a mountain. 

It was possible that Kor was onto something with his observations, but it was more important that Kaden use this opportunity to keep the conversation going.

"Then let's talk about our mission instead," the tan Lombax offered, taking charge of the discussion and changing the subject. "There is a fair chance that we won't run into anything too dangerous while we scan the swamplands, but... if we do, well… there's a reason Sargasso isn't known for its tourism industry."

The cabin fell silent again as Kor stared for a few more seconds, mulling over Kaden's words, "Then, it is a good thing that we are not tourists," he replied simply.

Kaden got the mild feeling that Kor didn't fully understand what he was saying, so he figured it was best to get straight to the point, "What I mean is: we need to work together... as a team, at least if we want to survive this mission. So, uh…" it took a little time and a lot of willpower for Kaden to continue, but if he followed his logic, he knew this was the only way, "I uh… I guess I should start by apologizing. I'm sorry for targeting and attacking you like I did."

Kor did not respond immediately, he simply stared for a long moment. So much so that Kaden was about to speak again, but was cut off,

"Your apology is neither necessary nor desired," Kor stated simply, with no evidence that he cared at all about Kaden's expression of regret. "If your concern is for my cooperation, then it is unfounded. I will fulfill my role as your escort and protect you with my life. Of that, I assure you... with what little honor I have left.”

Kaden's initial thoughts were very mixed. He was angry at having the apology that he'd worked for three days to be able to say be disregarded so coldly, but at the same time, he felt some relief to know that despite everything so far, Kor would cooperate. 

However, he also knew that these were just words. They were far from a guarantee that Kor would not just abandon him if the situation truly got bad. There was even the possibility that Kor was straight up lying through his breathing apparatus and had no intention of working together at all. 

Kaden knew that he needed to dig deeper and try to uncover any hidden truths Kor was hiding and that meant more conversation.

Kaden 'knew' this, but the first part of his mind, the one that was still angry about having his apology stiffed, managed to grab control of his mouth first, "Huh?!" he snorted scornfully, "And what makes you think I need 'your' protection?"

Kor leaned back in his seat, eyeing Kaden carefully, "I do not inherently believe someone of your abilities ‘will’ need protection, but it is not a matter of ‘need’. I shall fulfill what is owed of me, regardless."

Kaden was taken slightly aback by Kor's almost humble reply, "You seem a lot less confrontational than you did in the fitness center?" he wondered aloud, saying the first thought that came to mind before the rational part could wrest his voice back.

Even more to Kaden's surprise, Kor turned his gaze towards the floor in what, if Kaden hadn't known better, might have been shame, "At that particular moment,” he began slowly. “I was in the process of reflecting on recent… failures. As I said then, you have very poor timing."

An awkward silence then filled the room as the sound of their shuttle docking with something could be heard through the walls. Neither Kaden nor Kor were particularly proud of what had happened in the school exercise room several nights ago, it would seem. 

Despite the fact that Kaden was now moderately sure he could trust Kor for this mission, he still at least wanted to try and clear the air between them. It was necessary for their survival.

"How are your wounds doing?" he asked eventually, after running through many different topic possibilities in his head. After all, being injured by each other was something they had in common.

Kor looked back up and eyed Kaden carefully, "I will not be a hindrance on this mission... I swear it," he insisted firmly.

Kaden was startled by Kor’s response and he felt a small twinge of guilt, "That's not what I meant," he continued, not sure how to proceed.

"Then what other reason would you have to inquire about my health?" Kor asked, somewhat suspiciously.

Kaden shrugged, "I was really just trying to make conversation, you know? I mean we're going to be working together, so I figured we should try to find some common ground," he answered with the friendliest tone he could manage.

Kor was silent again for a seemingly long few moments before he finally replied, "Let us make a few things clear, Kaden. As a fighter, I respect your abilities greatly and I admire the efficiency with which you defeat your enemies, but as a warrior, as a person… I ‘despise’ you." 

Kaden was caught off guard once again. Being told so bluntly to his face that he was hated was new to him, at least not since his primary education years, so he didn’t know how to respond at first. 

In the following silence, Kor continued, "Your methods are conniving and you fight your battles through toys and traps while in a direct fight, one-on-one, you are worthless. In a war, there are no rules and any method that achieves its goal must be respected, but to one such as I, who succeeds by sharpening their skills and building their strength, you are an insult. Understand that I fulfill my duties ‘only’ because they are my duties and for no other reason. When this mission is over and I have fulfilled my service and repaid my debt, then we will be enemies once more. And this time…" Kor raised an armored hand and lined it up with Kaden's head, before clenching it tightly into a fist, "I will crush you until nothing is left and there is no doubt as to which one of us is superior."

With those last few words, Kor turned back around and stared out of the shuttle window once more, even though the only thing out there was the static interior of a shuttle hangar. 

This also made it clear that the conversation was over.

Many emotions swirled around inside Kaden's mind as he processed everything Kor had just said, but among them all, the one feeling that stood out most strongly was… relief. 

The tan Lombax turned his face away and looked out of his own window to hide the small grin that bent his lips. He could not have hoped for a better outcome. He had never wanted to make peace with Kor in the first place, but he had thought it necessary to assure his cooperation. However, this was clearly not the case.

Had Kor been friendly with him right from the beginning, Kaden would have been suspicious of the mysterious Lombax’s true motives. He would always have had the doubt that, like himself, Kor was simply acting and that he was possibly waiting for an opportunity to take revenge. 

However, since Kor openly declared his hostility, it proved to Kaden that Kor's motives were clear, as his enemy had absolutely nothing to gain by revealing his continued hostility. Quite the opposite, in fact. Had Kor been out to get him, such words would only make it that much harder.

This also meant that Kor’s promise of cooperation could be trusted as genuine.

Kaden had wanted the two of them to clear the air because you can only work with someone if you understand their intentions. This condition, however, did not actually mean that those intentions had to be good. Not knowing how someone feels can lead to misunderstandings and misunderstandings lead to mistakes, but Kaden now understood Kor clearly and that was the only thing he really needed. 

All that was left now, was to make things clear to Kor as well.

"It will be ‘very’ obvious who's superior... I guarantee it," he said quietly, but loud enough that he knew Kor's ridiculous hearing would pick it up.

As the warp drive on the  _ Slipstream _ spun into life and the ship launched itself into FTL, the two Lombaxes within its shuttle bay sat in complete silence, just as they would for the next five hours. 

Nothing had been resolved between them, nor was any deeper meaning behind their actions learned. 

And that was ‘exactly’ how they both wanted it.

* * *

The small transport shuttle departed from the  _ Slipstream _ and entered Sargasso's atmosphere with no problems. Though, Kaden was mildly pleased to note that Kor enjoyed planetary re-entry about as much as he’d enjoyed leaving Fastoon.

From his window, Kaden could now see Sargasso’s surface growing rapidly in size as they approached. 

The entire planet, as far as the eye could see, was murky and brown, and obscured by a slight, but constant fog cover.

Mostly covered in water, the parts of the planet that were considered the ‘continents’ were essentially massive swamps, dotted with hundreds of tiny islands barely firm enough to build on. 

Many of these areas had natural borders made from massive walls of rock, which formed the planet's unique mountain ranges.

As the view of the surface became clearer and their destination more apparent, Kaden was beginning to see evidence of artificial dwellings and structures. Mostly the gelatonium drilling rigs and refineries controlled by the Kerchu.

Even more interesting, however, was the sight of massive skeletal remains, belonging to long-dead behemoths which sat almost as tall as the nearby refinery towers stood. 

Kaden was so mesmerized by the sight that he didn't even notice the giant flying pterodactyls that were descending toward the shuttle. He nearly fell back out of his seat when one of them suddenly blocked out his view with its body. 

To his surprise, though, they did not attack as he had at first feared. In fact, they didn't even seem to notice the shuttle at all. They simply flapped their wings and soared through the sky, completely uncaring of the small vessel that barely equaled their size. 

It was a truly prehistoric world.

* * *

The shuttle touched down safely on a remote landing platform that was embedded in a firmly grounded island. 

This landing pad was also attached to a large, flat staging platform, which itself was connected to several gelatonium drilling rigs, like the ones in the mission briefing pic files. 

Slender metal bridges and ramps connected these platforms. They were simple walkways, but clearly capable of supporting heavy machinery or cargo vehicles if need be.

As Kaden studied the structures through his window, the back hatch of the shuttle opened with a hiss. 

With one last look of displeasure at one another, Kaden and Kor both stood up and walked out into the lightly fog-shrouded sunlight.

Kaden got to take in the planet from its surface at last. The air stank of rotting organic matter and swampish gases, but overall it was exactly as he'd expected, which was a relief, given how few recent events in his life he could say that about. 

The only unusual thing he noticed was that there seemed to be no one working on any of the platforms that were clearly operational... or anyone anywhere else for that matter.

"Are you sure this is the right landing site?" yelled Kaden to James, who was now exiting the ship's cockpit.

The cheerful robot stepped out onto the moist ground and scanned the area with his ocular sensors, "These are the correct coordinates, I’d swear on my motherboard. I assure you that we are where we need to be," he stated confidently, before heading off to fetch their luggage.

Kaden looked around the area suspiciously. He had expected some kind of welcoming party, especially since their mission specifically stated that they'd be working alongside a Kerchu surveying team as well. He was starting to get a bad feeling. 

A sharp clang to his side, made by Kor hefting his massive Malleus wrench up onto his shoulders, told Kaden that his new partner was getting the same feeling. 

Cautiously the two of them began moving toward the large central metal platform, with Kor taking the lead by a few steps.

They made it only a short distance away when suddenly, Kor came to a halt and became perfectly still. Kaden looked around in search of what had caused the armored Lombax to stop, but he could see nothing.

Then, without warning, Kor spun on his heel and charged at Kaden. 

The tan Lombax was so surprised by the action that he didn't even have time to yelp before he was slammed into the ground.

Kaden's immediate thoughts were that he had completely misread the situation and that he was shocked to find Kor had betrayed him already. He was sure, now, that his armored enemy was going to finish what he'd started in the fitness room, and then dispose of his body in the middle of nowhere on an alien planet.

But, barely had the assaulted Lombax’s thought-connected NID ordered his gauntlet capacitors to charge, before a loud splash of liquid, followed by a burning hiss, reached his ears. This was followed closely by the tingling sensation of extreme heat against his fur.

Blinking rapidly, Kaden saw the raging inferno of angrily burning raw gelatonium as it blazed brightly over the spot he had just been standing on. 

The armored Lombax himself was already getting back on his feet and pulling Kaden up with him, "Back to the flying coffin," he said, with a commanding tone.

It took more time for Kaden's mind to figure out what Kor meant by 'coffin' than it did for him to agree with the other Lombax's suggestion. 

The two of them were running at full speed (Kaden's full speed) back to the shuttle a moment later, as more flaming balls of starship fuel rained down across the platform behind them. 

Looking ahead toward the ship, Kaden spotted James' grinning, robotic face as he walked out into the open, carrying two traveling bags. The ever-cheerful automaton peered out upon the scene of the two Lombaxes running at him while fire trails blazed through the sky in their wake. 

His cheerful features did not waver as he calmly turned on his heel and walked back inside the shuttle, his ‘nope’ protocol active.

Just as Kaden and Kor were about to reach the ramp back to the landing platform, a well-placed ball of flame overtook them and coated their path in obstructing fire. A loud, but deep shout of joy resounded from the other side of the platform.

Kaden spun around to find the source of the noise and quickly spotted the tank-tracked, fire-spewing machine that chugged along toward them from one of the distant gelatonium rigs. 

Sitting in the controller seat of the roughly twelve-foot tall pyroguard mech, was a large, gerbil-like creature that laughed maniacally as it flailed its vehicle's flamethrower arms around in the air.

"Is that not a Kerchu?" asked Kor with what seemed like mild confusion.

Kaden nodded, "Yeah, it is, but I don't know why it's attacking us."

Kor turned to face their attacker with his wrench in his grip, ready to retaliate, "The 'why' is not important right now."

Kaden sighed, seeing no alternative, "Fine, but don't kill it," he instructed before activating his Nuclear Fists. 

If he had really wanted to, Kaden could destroy the Kerchu Pyroguard from where he stood with a single blast of Nuclear Fist, but that would likely ignite the gelatonium fuel stored inside its suit. The two of them had come to Sargasso on a mission to help the Kerchu and, somehow, killing one of them within the first few minutes of landing seemed converse to that goal. 

"And be careful of the giant tank on the mech's back," Kaden added in warning, "it's very flammable."

Then, Kor did something that once again threw his forced companion for a loop. The armored Lombax nodded his head slightly in conformation and said, "As you command," before sprinting off toward his target.

Kaden didn't have time to reflect on the strangeness, though, as the pyroguard had begun launching more balls of fire in their direction. 

He dodged the few that came his way, but it wasn’t long before the Kerchu seated in the operator's seat noticed that Kor was charging at him. The pyroguard then began focusing its attack on what it saw was the greater threat, all while shrieking in its weird, squawking language.

In preparation for interacting with their Kerchu counterparts, Kaden had set his NID translator to automatically activate when it heard Kerchu speak. Most of the words the creature was saying seemed to be random, untranslatable expletives and threats directed at Kor

But then, one set of words came through very clearly, "Now! Do it now!"

Kor was almost at the foot of the ramp which led up to where the Pyroguard continued to hurl fire at him. Similarly, there were two more ramps on either side of the platform that Kor was currently crossing, each with their own drilling rig apparatuses. 

Lying in wait behind the two drilling rigs' structures was half-a-dozen other Kerchu. 

These creatures squawked excitedly as they emerged from hiding, each one wearing what looked like an armored backpack that covered their upper back and shoulders in heavy metal plates.

Kaden recognized the sight of Kerchu Rollers immediately; they were a staple of the Kerchu military. 

In unison, the six new attackers leapt from their platforms towards Kor and, before they hit the ground again, the metal plates of their backpacks unfolded around their wearers until the Kerchu were each encased in a large metal ball. Long razor blades protruded from the orbs as well, forming two lines of sharp death that ran completely around them, like some giant metallic porcupine. 

Kaden watched as the six metal spheres, three on each side, rolled their way down the ramps to the plaza on a direct course for Kor, but the tan Lombax was already holding two fully charged Nuclear Fists in his hands.

He could easily take out two of the Rollers in an instant with his attack and if he attacked the middle Kerchu Roller of either squad, he could probably throw the other two surrounding them off course. However, this still left the issue of not wanting to kill the Kerchu before he understood the situation.

_ ‘Not a problem,’ _ he thought confidently.

Raising his hands and taking a deep breath to steady his aim, Kaden activated his newly designed weapon modification. At his command, the spikes embedded in his gauntlets’ fingers, his Nova Claws, protruded out from his fingertips, but this time only just a few inches, rather than extending to their full length. 

This slight increase in effective finger reach gave Kaden the ability to more accurately manipulate the magnetic fields that held back the nuclear reactions taking place in his palms. Then, by slightly adjusting the fields' strength through his NID and altering his finger position, Kaden was able to open an infinitesimally small hole in the containment field matrix. 

From these sudden openings erupted twin roaring streams of superheated atomic plasma that carved two glowing lines of molten metal across the central platform, just in front of the two groups of Rollers.

Unable to stop, as Kaden had known they couldn't, the Kerchu Rollers rolled right over the metallic puddles and, thanks to the expertly calculated timing with which they were made, calculations that included the fact that the heat would quickly transfer from the hot metal floor to the cooler metal shells of the Rollers', the six spinning Kerchu suddenly found themselves stuck fast to the ground as the molten metal congealed back to a solid before they could pass.

Many of the metal shells quickly began glowing red and seconds later they burst open, retracting as far as they could before snagging on the spot where they had been welded to the ground. 

Many of the Kerchu flailed about in a panic while shouting what Kaden's NID translated as, "Hot!"

Now, all that remained of the attackers was the single flame mech, which Kor was now within just a few feet of.

The pyroguard had already recognized that its ranged attacks were useless against the heavily-armored Lombax and instead switched to a close-range spray of roaring fire. It then used the cover that its flames provided to reverse its tracked mech into a corner and effectively cut off all routes of attack besides a straightforward one.

Kor halted his charge and stood just beyond the Pyroguard's flamethrower range. 

Eventually, the flames stopped, revealing the laughing Kerchu seated safely on the other side. It was obvious to anyone that if Kor made any further moves forward, he would be wrapped in burning gelatonium. 

Kaden watched this scene unfold from a distance and reflexively tried to think of a plan to deal with the situation. Of course, they could still just shoot the Kerchu, but that would again defeat the purpose of their mission and Kaden had to push aside the ever more tantalizing idea into the back of his mind, while also making a note of how annoying that rule was becoming.

He didn't have time to come up with an answer though, as Kor drove his wrench into the ground at his side and then simply walked forward. 

Kaden witnessed in amazement as his archfoe-turned-partner was instantly engulfed in flame and disappeared from view. The tan-furred Lombax could also hear the cackling laugh of the pyroguard operator as it burned its enemy alive.

Then, like a phoenix from old legends, Kor burst through the wall of flames and stood, alight with fire, mere inches from the seated Kerchu who had now finally stopped laughing. 

Ignoring the inferno that danced around his exterior, the inflamed Lombax reached a burning hand forward and gripped the now fearfully squawking Kerchu by their chest fur. 

The creature screeched in pain as the residual gelatonium scorched its skin, before it was lifted cleanly out of its chair. 

Recognizing that its operator was no longer seated, the pyroguard mech deactivated and the stream of flames shut off.

Kaden appeared next to Kor a moment later with an expression of disbelief, "I know your armor is pretty fire resistant, but didn't that hurt at all?" Kaden asked with a strange mix of appreciation for the swift solution, anger at Kor's recklessness, and just a hint of actual concern. 

Concern that his mind refused to acknowledge was actually there.

The fires around Kor had burned out by now, but the creature in his hand had already fainted from the heat.

Kor never took his eyes off of his hostage as he answered, "It was barely a discomfort," he asserted. "I've experienced much worse… recently."

Kaden pretended as if he hadn’t heard Kor's last sentence, "The question now is, what to do about these guys?" he wondered aloud while studying the Kerchu that hung limply in Kor's hand, as well as the ones trapped in the floor. 

Kor then dropped the Kerchu onto the ground, "This one seemed to be in charge, but we still have six others we could torture for information until this one regains consciousness."

Kaden knew that he should have been put off by Kor's casual suggestion of torture, but, in truth, he'd already been thinking it. Of course, he'd also already realized that if they hadn't killed them because their mission was to help the Kerchu, then torturing them somehow seemed just as bad, if not worse.

Luckily, the decision never had to be made. The distant sound of hoverjets reached the two Lombaxes' ears and the together they turned to see a low-altitude hover-skiff racing towards the platforms from across the swamp. 

Kaden and Kor prepared their weapons for another fight, but after a few more tense seconds, the skiff was close enough that they could make out its occupants.

Among them was a Lombax.

* * *

The skiff was moving so fast, it nearly crashed into the ground as it landed on the island next to the shuttle, where Kaden and Kor had already regrouped with James. 

Alongside the strange Lombax that they had spotted on the vehicle earlier, there were five other Kerchu onboard. Three appeared to be soldiers with the same equipment as the Rollers that had, by now, given up on freeing themselves and simply sat quietly, trapped inside their half-opened metal shells. 

The other two Kerchu onboard were wearing ornate robes, which was unusual for many reasons, but mostly for the simple fact that Kerchu didn't usually wear clothing.

The new Lombax then leapt from the skiff the moment it was stationary and came running over to where Kaden and Kor stood with weapons at ready. They were still on guard and cautious after their unexpected assault.

The Lombax was male with tan fur. He was short for an adult, but also a bit more muscular than average. He wore a suit that seemed to have been made by whoever designed the two Kerchus' robes, but with Lombax taste in mind.

"I am... so sorry about this!" the man declared animatedly, without stopping to catch his breath. "We were... held up on our end and we'd... forgotten that these rigs... were being harvested this week. Again, my apologies. Is anyone hurt?"

It was Kaden who spoke on their behalf, "No injuries, except this guy has a few burns on his chest," he answered with a gesture to the still unconscious Kerchu that Kor had brought back to the shuttle with them.

The strange Lombax breathed a deep sigh of relief, "I'm very glad to hear that,” he wheezed thankfully. The man then stood up straight and held out his hand, "My name is Daniel Jire. I am the Lombax ambassador to the Kerchu race and I take it that you two are Kaden and Kor?"

Kaden nodded as he shook the ambassador's hand, but Kor simply stared at the appendage when it was offered to him, "Why were we attacked?" he demanded suspiciously.

Daniel Jire eloquently hid the slight shiver that Kor’s grating voice caused as he gave an embarrassed smile and rubbed the back of his head self-consciously, "Well, you see, the Kerchu are a ‘very’ territorial species and they'll attack pretty much anyone who comes onto their land. We hadn't considered it to be a problem, as we were supposed to be here to greet you. Again, my apologies."

Kor still did not take the ambassador's hand, but he did nod his understanding. Even further, though, he gave another nod to the unconscious Kerchu, as if approving of their cultural aggression.

At that moment, the two robed Kerchu, along with two of the Roller guards from the skiff, reached them as well. 

Of the two attired hamster-like creatures, one appeared to be much smaller than the other. From what Kaden knew about Kerchu anatomy, this one was quite young.

"Ah!" said Dan, happy to change the subject, "This is the ‘Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Kerchu on Sargasso’, High Minister Baagah."

The larger Kerchu in robes bowed his head respectfully. When he spoke, Kaden's NID translated, "Greetings Lombaxes. I hope we can work together toward the profit of both our races, as we have done many times in the past."

Kerchu vocal cords were very different from most galactic races’ and were therefore physically incapable of speaking the galactic language. This is one of the many reasons why the Kerchu separate themselves from most of the Galaxy's inhabitants.

Dan nodded happily at Baagah’s words and then gestured to the smaller of the robbed Kerchu, "And this here is the minister's son, Boogoh; he will be accompanying you on your surveying mission."

The young Kerchu bowed just like his father, "Greetings, I am very much looking forward to working alongside members of another race," he said excitedly.

Kor continued to remain silent, but Kaden decided it was appropriate to return the greeting and bowed as well, "As am I, Boogoh," he said kindly.

At that, Daniel Jire clapped his hands together and smiled warmly, "Well then, now that everything seems to be back on track, let's get you boys set up." 

Both Kaden and Kor nodded their approval of the idea and the group made their way back to the traveling skiff.

Minister Baagah held up just long enough to order his guards to free the trapped Rollers on the rig platform and see to the unconscious Pyroguard operator, before following his son and the Lombaxes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read on the Ratchet and Clank wiki that the pterodactyl-like creatures, seen throughout the Ratchet and Clank universe, were also called ‘Skreeducks’. However, since it is an uncited reference, I just went with pterodactyl since it causes the least confusion as that’s pretty much what they are.
> 
> Daniel Jire - ‘danjire’ is Somali for ambassador, thus ‘Dan Jire’.


	5. Into the Swamp

The newly formed group of Lombaxes and Kerchu, consisting of everyone who'd arrived on the skiff plus Kaden and Kor, were now traveling away from the gel rig/landing site aboard said skiff. 

James had been kind enough to carry the luggage and equipment to the swamp skimmer, but had remained behind to watch their shuttle until it was time to leave again. 

While in transit, the ambassador explained their situation, "It's not just the rise in gelatonium prices," the charismatic Lombax explained, "There's been a recent uptick in wigwump activity around the drilling fields and it's wreaking havoc on the gel quotas. Just last month a particularly nasty worm decided to sink three entire rigs almost a hundred feet into the ground.”

Kaden’s ears perked and he gave the ambassador a sideways glance.

“Don't worry though," Dan added as he saw the look, "so long as you stay out of their tunnel networks, wigwumps couldn't care less about what happens on the surface. They only attacked the rigs because some foolish Kerchu weren't paying attention to their seismic monitors, which the teams use to keep track of the Wigs' movements. The vibrations of the drilling platforms provoke them, you see. The rumbling in the ground makes them think another worm is trying to challenge for territory. We usually move the crews around depending on where the wigwumps are nesting, which is why we need as many as we can get. Imagine what would happen if several wigwumps decide to take up residence near all of the richest rigs at once?"

Kaden nodded his understanding. The surveying contract's usual schedule was a three-year cycle and it had been almost two and a half years since the last team came to survey. It was likely that many of the old rigs were running dry by now and the reserve sites were being taxed by the high demand and the wigwump disturbances. 

This also explained why they had been ordered to land out in the middle of the swamp and were being put to work right away. Time was precious for the Kerchu of Sargasso, but that was fine in Kaden's opinion. The sooner this mission was over with, the better.

"Is there something you require?" questioned Kor suddenly.

The unexpected query had been directed toward the Kerchu Minister's son, Boogoh. Kaden had already noticed the young Kerchu trying to study both himself and Kor since they'd first met without being ‘too’ obvious about it. 

A normal person likely wouldn't have even noticed, but Kaden was very thorough when it came to observing his surroundings, especially when in an unfamiliar place. The same was obviously true for Kor as well, but, unlike Kaden, he seemed to be unwilling to ignore it.

The young Kerchu seemed to shrink slightly at Kor’s sharp, metallic voice, but it was Minister Baagah that replied instead, "You'll have to forgive my son, Lombaxes," Kaden's NID translated, "He has always had a fascination with your race and has been quite eager to meet you ever since he found out you were both close to his age." 

The young Kerchu seemed to try and bury his furry face in his chest, a Kerchu sign of embarrassment. 

His father continued regardless, "To be honest, I did not want him accompanying you on this dangerous journey, especially after I found out there would be one less member than usual on your team... but, he can be quite persistent when he sets his mind on something. A very Kerchu quality that I'm proud of, really. I was eventually swayed because I knew that interacting with more of your kind would be a valuable experience that will benefit him in the future."

At this, Ambassador Daniel grinned, "Don't you worry Minister, these two are from Nova Academy. If Dean Tor'doran sent them, you can be assured of their skill and your son's safety."

The elder Kerchu nodded in apparent satisfaction with this assurance. 

Kaden did not have the heart to mention that he and Kor were here as a punishment and probably weren't expected to survive. Nevertheless, any further discussion was put on hold as the skiff's operator indicated that they would arrive shortly. All occupants then took hold of something as the skiff transitioned from flying over the murky swamp water to above solid ground.

Just ahead of them, embedded in a tall rock formation, was an unmistakable military bunker security door with old, Lombax writing on it.

The skiff pulled up quite close to the doorway, before coming to a halt, and most of its occupants disembarked. 

Ambassador Jire quickly made his way to the entrance and beckoned for Kaden and Kor to follow, "This baby is one of the many bunkers throughout the galaxy built by our people during the Great War," he explained affectionately. "Some of the old research bunkers and facilities on Sargasso are even still kept operational by the Praetorian Guard, but this one was just a supply cache. Now, it’s just used to store the Lombax technological equipment needed for various operations, like the surveying equipment you boys will be using."

Kor walked up to the door and studied it closely, "It is an impressive fortification, but what is to stop an outsider from breaking in if it is unguarded?" he asked.

Kaden already knew the answer to Kor's question, but he let Daniel explain. 

With a smile, the ambassador simply said, "Give it a touch and see."

Kor looked the large, metal barrier up and down before cautiously reaching out his hand and placing his open palm on the metal surface.

There was a flash of light that emanated from where his armored hand had touched the metal and the Lombax writing began to glow brightly, "Welcome back, Lombax," said a robotic, female voice, as a low creak of moving gears could be heard, "I hope your journey has been rewarding."

The rumbling grew louder and dust began to shake loose as the massive door was drawn upward to allow access into the bunker.

"Lombax DNA itself is the key," explained Dan with a smile. "If any other species tried to break in, the whole place would detonate and vaporize any trace of what was stored inside."

Kor nodded his understanding and appreciation for the security as Dan walked into the new opening, followed by Kaden.

Exactly as Dan had said, the inside of the bunker was nothing special and it appeared to be little more than a reinforced storage closet. Its walls were lined with shelves, cases, and large armored cabinets. It had everything one could want, from medical and food supplies to basic weaponry and ammunition.

"Now, to be honest with you two, I don't have a clue what any of this stuff does," said the Ambassador as Kaden meticulously scanned the room, mentally cataloging every device and piece of equipment within. "I trust that you’ll be able to gather everything you will need without me?"

Kaden turned to Kor who, until now, had been looking around the room, but was staring at him and Dan intensely. 

Even through the mask, Kaden could tell that his partner didn't have a clue what even an eighth of the equipment was, "Yes, we've got this," he assured the Ambassador, who then smiled again, nodded, and turned to leave the bunker. 

Just before he left, Kaden had one more question, "How many Kerchu will be going with us?"

Dan stopped with one foot over the threshold, "Three total, Boogoh and two escorts. They'll have their own food and medical supplies too, but they ‘will’ need a flight pack each," he said before finally exiting the bunker.

Kaden nodded, more to himself than anyone else, and then quickly set about collecting the gear they would need for the mission. 

It wasn't long, however, before he began to feel Kor's gaze burning a hole into the back of his head.

With a sigh, Kaden began to place the equipment out on an empty workbench before making note of what they were aloud, "These are Crust Piercers," he explained as he placed a crate full of rods and metal discs down. "Our mission revolves around us setting these up every few thousand feet. The rods send radiation deep into the ground and the discs detect what gets reflected back based on the density of the underground. We'll be doing this repeatedly until we've met our quota for new gel deposits." 

Kor nodded his understanding, but Kaden didn't turn to see it, or even cared in any way.

Next, Kaden laid out five metal boxes with straps that made it obvious that they were meant to be worn as a backpack, "These are standard flight packs. We'll need these to get back once we've finished the objective."

Again Kor acknowledged what Kaden had said, but not with a simple nod. Instead, a strange kind of mechanical grumble and a shuffle of feet reached Kaden's ears. 

He didn't ignore it this time.

Remembering Kor’s behaviour on the shuttle, the tan Lombax turned to Kor and eyed him accusingly, "You ‘did’ read the mission briefing information about these things, right?" he asked.

"I did," was all Kor said in response.

Kaden raised an unconvinced eyebrow, "So you'll have no problem handling one?"

Kor took a few seconds to look over the devices on workbench, before turning back to face Kaden, "Can you handle one?" he asked.

Kaden felt the question was strange, and redundant, but answered anyway, "Yes, I can."

Kor folded his arms, "Then I will have little difficulty."

* * *

It had taken Kaden a little over twenty minutes to gather everything they would need for the mission. He had then distributed a flight pack and a Lombax communicator to each of the three Kerchu that were coming with them, all three set to the same frequency as his and Kor’s NID relay. It was here that he finally got a chance to meet his team as they would be for the next few days.

"This is my father's most skilled bodyguard, Reegeh," introduced Boogoh with a gesture to the largest Kerchu in the group.

The Kerchu known as Reegeh bowed slightly before rearing back to his full height, "I have been charged by my master with the protection of his heir. This will be my number one priority," he explained with somewhat of a growl.

Boogoh smiled and then turned to the third Kerchu of their group, "And this is Siigih, he has been my personal attendant since I was very little."

The third Kerchu was much smaller than Reegeh, but that just made him slightly below average for a Kerchu.

"Attendant?" repeated Kaden, "So like a nanny, or babysitter?"

Siigih bowed and clicked his teeth lightly at Kaden's comment, "My duties to master Boogoh range widely from escorting to education. Like Reegeh, one of my obligations is to ensure that no harm comes to the son of House Baagah. I am very good at my job."

Kaden smiled and nodded his approval. He didn't expect to run into anything life-threatening that they couldn't sneak around or run-away from out in the swamp, but it was still reassuring to know that at least two capable warriors had been added to the group. He wasn't, however, happy about the addition of a wide-eyed, Kerchu child who looked like he'd be more of a hindrance than a help.

Regardless, he and Kor likewise gave their introductions.

When all members were familiar with each other and the equipment was prepared, they all boarded the skiff once more.

Only a few miles out from the bunker site, the Skiff came to a halt again and the team of two Lombaxes, plus three Kerchu, disembarked once more.

"Be well my son," said Minister Baagah as Boogoh stepped off of the skiff.

"I will make sure of it," assured Reegeh with a slight bow as he stepped up onto the edge of the skiff. 

Minister Baagah placed his hand on his most trusted warrior's shoulder and gave a nod of thanks before Reegeh too disembarked.

Four of the five bid farewell to the remaining skiff's passengers as its engines revved from idle to active once more. Kor had chosen instead to examine their drop-off point more carefully.

"We'll try and track you as best we can from the nearby outpost, but the swamp does funny things with transceivers," warned Ambassador Daniel.

Kaden was well aware of the swamp gas' interference from the mission briefing, but he gave his thanks to the ambassador anyway as the skiff began to pull away.

Both Reegeh and Siigih saluted while Boogoh waved farewell to the quickly shrinking craft in the distance. When it was gone, the three then turned to Kaden expectantly, which caught the tan-furred Lombax a little off-guard.

After several seconds of awkward staring, Boogoh spoke up, "We await your plan of action, Lombax Kaden."

"Oh," replied Kaden in realization, and he quickly reached for the small metal cube he'd brought from the bunker. "Alright, gather round,” he ordered, before turning slightly, “That means you too, Mr. Reaper!” he then shouted to the red-armored Lombax several yards away.

Kor had been diligently checking the area since he'd left the skiff, despite Kaden having scanned the immediate area for signs of life with the skiff's equipment. 

However, Kaden wasn't sure how much of that diligence was due to him just being normally overcautious, or if it was the strange environment and situation that was putting him on edge.

Reluctantly, the armored Lombax turned away from the area ahead and rejoined the other four around the metal cube that had been placed on the ground. Kaden waved his hand over the device and a holographic landscape bloomed into existence around it. It flashed several times and with each flicker, the landscape it depicted became clearer and more precise, until it was possible to see individual trees and shrubs.

"This is where we are," Kaden said with a finger pointing to the center of the map. The hologram showed a tiny 'X' on a small island of dirt surrounded by swamp and the jutting walls of a mountain range.

Kaden waved his hand again and half the map’s land turned green with the 'X' that represented them being placed right on the edge, "This is the area that has been surveyed by previous teams," he explained before waving his hand again. 

This time the map moved so that the green areas were mostly cut out, revealing more terrain ahead of them, "We need to locate ten separate, potential drilling sites somewhere in this area, or even beyond if necessary."

Using his finger, Kaden traced a route from the 'X' mark to the area ahead. As he did so, the hologram drew a line in its wake, "This is the route I want to use. We'll scan this island and the next two in this area," he explained, drawing scan sites and the path he expected them to take to reach them. "Then, we'll move on to here," he continued before pointing to a yellow highlighted piece of mountain range.

"That is a cave," noted Reegeh, as if Kaden wasn't aware.

"Don't worry," Kaden assured him, "Rough scans of the surface say that it opens up on the other side. This way we won't have to scale a cliff… at least not yet."

But Reegeh just shook his head, "Caves are always inhabited. We can be almost guaranteed that there is a nest of Anthropods or Grubsnuckers within. There have even been reports of Grunthors sometimes making a home of a cave if it is large enough."

Kaden shrugged, "It's either that or we waste half a day scaling a treacherous cliff face. Besides, I'm sure we can handle any pests sleeping in a hole."

Reegeh rose to his full height and made a squeaking growl that Kaden's NID had no translation for, "We are not five minutes off the skiff and you are already choosing the most dangerous path?"

Kaden was about to counter with a sarcastic retort about how he hadn't planned to enter the cave until tomorrow night, so it was way longer than five minutes, but to his surprise, Kor stepped in-between him and the large Kerchu. 

"This is the most efficient route to complete our objective,” countered the armored Lombax in his metallic voice. “If Kaden says it is to be ours, then we shall take it," he declared sternly.

Kaden had caught a glimpse of it earlier, but now he was sure from the look on Reegeh's face that Kor's metallic voice and ever-present mask really did make the Kerchu nervous.

However, it did not completely shut down the argument and Reegeh persisted, "Maybe it is the most efficient way to achieve your objective, but 'our' objective is to ensure that the young master is returned safely."

Kor tilted his head in the way he always did when he found something curious, this seemed to further cause discomfort to Reegeh, "If you doubt your abilities so much, then the answer is simple. You and yours will hide away somewhere safe, while I will clear out the cave. You may then cross through it when the danger has been removed."

Reegeh looked angry and indeed the second, even more guttural growl that he emitted after being very unsubtly called a coward made that point obvious. However, Kor showed no signs of intimidation; although, it wasn't like they could tell under his helmet anyway.

After Reegeh's attempt to intimidate seemingly failed he opened his mouth to shout, but a small Kerchu hand stopped him, "Reegeh," spoke young Boogoh calmingly, "Let us first examine this new bridge and decide whether to cross it when we get there... before we begin burning others."

Reegeh stared down at Boogoh before looking back up at Kor for a few seconds, until he finally snorted his displeasure and then nodded his concession.

_ 'A perfect example of the differences between the warrior caste and the leadership caste of the Kerchu,' _ thought Kaden, impressed with Boogoh's apparent command potential. He was also pleased to see that Kor was still just as good at making friends as ever.

Kaden waved his hand over the hologram again and it disappeared, "Alright, let's head to the first setup point," he said casually as he picked up the holo-cube and began walking forward along the route he'd drawn.

* * *

It only took the group a few minutes to arrive at the first scan site, as the skiff had placed them relatively close. Once on site, Kaden began setting up the equipment.

A single Crust Piercer setup consisted of several electromagnetic emitter rods and one detection disc. This device was perfect for detecting things deep underground, but only within a tiny range from the disc itself. 

To increase efficiency, the discs had been designed to work in concert when two or more of them were within a certain distance. By bouncing the energy pulses not just straight down, but at angles and at different intervals, surveyors could see not only what was underneath a Crust Piercer, but what was between them as well.

Kaden had already perfectly mapped out the exact positions of where he needed to place them for optimum efficiency. 

The solid ground locations would be easy enough, but they'd also have to get Crust Piercers into some pretty unwelcoming places to get a glimpse of the areas under the liquid swamp. 

The group would also have to split up into at least two parties to make any meaningful kind of time.

In the past, survey teams would sometimes divide themselves up into three teams of two, as condition and safety concerns allowed it, with one member of each race per group. This would allow much quicker time and allow each team to use the genetic-locked Lombax technology at will.

However, being one Lombax short and with neither elder Kerchu willing to leave the young Boogoh’s side, they had opted for a division by species.

Knowing this, Kaden used the first scan site as an example to teach the others… those that were willing to listen at least.

Only Boogoh and Siigih decided to watch as Kaden unpacked several Crust Piercer emitter rods, a detection disc, and a power cell to run them. Both Kor and Reegeh seemed to be more interested in guarding the site and searching the immediate area for danger. Though, Kaden preferred to think that they were simply incapable of learning anything besides fighting.

Under the two pairs of eyes he did have, Kaden reactivated the holo display he'd used earlier. This time it projected virtual, holographic emitter rods at various points on the ground around it in a twenty-foot radius. 

Using his wrench, Kaden then proceeded to pound the emitter rods one by one into the soft ground, all the way up to the fat bulbs that were their tops. 

Once a perfect circle was drawn in the dirt with rod heads, Kaden took out one final rod, which instead had a flat disc on top with plugs coming out of its sides. He placed this rod in the dead center of the hologram and buried it about halfway down.

Taking great care, Kaden showed Boogoh and Siigih how each plug could be extended out from the center and connected to one of the emitter rods. Once all the wires were attached, he took out a large metal disc and placed it flat on top of the central rod. 

After double checking that every device was interconnected properly, it was time to power the system.

Carefully, Kaden placed the small, glowing power cell into an open slot in the middle of the disc and, with a low hum, energy flowed from the disc, into the hub rod and out into the emitters. 

But the task wasn't done yet.

Kaden next traced his finger along a curved symbol on the disc's top, causing it to suddenly split open along its side, horizontally. The top of the disk then raised upward, becoming more of a cylinder, and revealing several thin towlines with wheels on their ends. 

Kaden demonstrated precisely how each line was then to be attached to one of the twenty plug wires and how the traversal wheels were clamped on them correctly. 

Finally, he pushed the disc's top back down until it clicked and pressed a series of three buttons on its top.

At Kaden's insistence, the two Kerchu retreated to a safe distance away from the circle that had been made, before he joined them just outside its perimeter. Together the two of them watched the motionless assembly curiously for a few seconds before it emitted a short warning siren.

The moment the caution signal stopped, the wheels on the tow lines spun into life and quickly moved down the cables. As they did so, they pulled with them what looked like a large, metal sheet that unraveled, seemingly without end, from the edge of the central disc. 

The wheels stopped as they reached their limit and the sheet was pulled taught, making a perfect circle of metallic fabric. This large disc would function as the radar dish that would detect and reflect the radiation signals sent out by the emitters that lined its edges.

The two Kerchu, Boogoh in particular, seemed mesmerized by the device which was now humming at varying levels of power. 

"The Piercer stations are set to start scanning immediately after activation," Kaden explained, "but they won't be able to map the whole picture until we put up a network of these things. After the last one's up, it will still take some time to finish, so we will meet back up here and then I'll show you how to take them apart again.” Kaden then handed the hologram cube to Siigih, “Use this if you need the instructions again. Our comms should also work fine at close range, so you can just call if you need help with anything. Any questions?"

The two Kerchu both shook their heads and Kaden began to divvy out the scanner equipment. Only Lombax DNA could activate Lombax technology, so he loaded the power cells into each of team Boogoh's discs and swiped the curved symbol to turn them on. If turned off, they would not activate again without contact by another member of the Lombax species, but this would allow the Kerchu group to set them up for one complete scan and recollect them. Kaden would simply have to reactivate them before their next sweep.

Just as Kaden had finished getting their gear straight, Kor appeared at his side with such silence that the tan-furred Lombax almost jumped in surprise, "What do you want?!" he demanded, louder than he'd intended.

In response, Kor gestured toward the way they were supposed to head next, "We may have a problem."

* * *

The group followed Kor further up their route to a small rocky outcrop. 

Here, the red-armored Lombax held back, indicating that this was where his concern was. 

Just beyond the outcrop was a small valley that the group needed to cross in order to reach either of their next scan sites. Kaden peeked his head around the rocks and the problem became quite clear.

Standing in the middle of the field were three tiny, beetle-like creatures wandering about lazily. These purple insectoids did not have heads, they simply had a small jaw with visibly sharp incisors poking out from the front of their shell. 

Two long eyestalks protruded out from the same point as their jaw and another two crab-like claws swung out in front of them. Kaden recognized the creatures immediately. They were Anthropods.

Siigih joined Kaden and Kor at the outcrop, "Your opinion?" asked Kor to either Kaden or Siigih.

"They're definitely in our way," said Kaden, stating the obvious. "Both groups will need to cross this open area several times in the next few hours and going around them would nearly double our time. I say neutralize them, but I've never faced an Anthropod outside of a holo-room before." He then turned to Siigih for his input.

Siigih sighed a little, "They are an abundant nuisance throughout the galaxy, but on Sargasso especially. They are not very tough on their own, but in groups, they can be dangerous."

Kaden thought for a bit. According to what he'd read, Anthropods rarely moved in such small groups, but even if there were a hundred of them, he would still be of the mind to take them out. He then turned back to Kor to discuss the situation… but Kor was gone.

Looking around wildly for a split second, Kaden quickly found his armored partner as he was sprinting, full tilt, at the three insect creatures with his wrench poised.

Kaden growled and clenched his fist. It was true that he was about to suggest pretty much the same thing, but it irritated him that Kor would act on his own so immediately. The tan Lombax turned back to Siigih, but again found that who he was looking for was no longer there. 

The Kerchu bodyguard had gone to fetch his counterpart, seemingly believing they would be needed. 

Kaden again didn't like feeling a step behind, so he walked out into the field and powered up his gauntlet weapons.

Kor was halfway to the Anthropods within just a few seconds. To him, the faster this mission was over with, the better. More to the point though, Kor was finally going to get the chance to kill something. 

Back on Magnaron, he had hunted creatures a dozen times the size and lethality of these runty pests on an almost daily basis. At Nova Academy, there was never a shortage of fighting, but it was always sparring matches with other students, or against robots. However, none of that was equivalent to the thrill of hunting a real beast that was fighting for its survival. Couple that with Kor's recent failures and there was very little reason left to 'not' assault these Anthropod things.

As he closed in, the creatures' stalk-like eyes turned and spotted his approaching form. 

_ 'Too slow,' _ thought the restless Lombax, as he drove his malleus wrench downward, splattering the first bug in a shower of chitin and goo.

Kor's eagerness for battle was great… too great. Kor was almost within reach of the second creature by the time he noticed the rumbling sensation that emanated from the ground beneath his feet.

Before he could react, a sharp 'pop' sound, alongside the squeal of an angry Anthropod, caught his ears. His body continued to follow its previous path, as it destroyed the second target, but his mind instead chose to watch from the corner of his eye as a fourth Anthropod burst from the ground just a few feet from him. 

Kor simply dismissed this fourth opponent's appearance as inconsequential, given how quickly he'd dispatched the first two. He made little more than a mental addition to his attack combo for the fourth target as he went for the third, but then he heard another pop and squeal from behind him. 

This was then followed by another, and another, and another. 

Like the rattling of rain falling from the sky, dozens of fat, fanged beetles burst from the ground and Kor found himself completely surrounded by the time his third target's remains had landed.

The chittering of the insect army filled Kor's ears as he swung his wrench around in front of him and got into a defensive stance. Any normal person might panic at the sudden turn of events, but Kor’s mind was perfectly clear as it sorted out what he needed to do, there was no room for self-reproach or doubts in combat. 

The Anthropods were weak, but many. Kor kept his body spinning constantly to prevent giving the carpet of attackers an opening to his back. To do this, the armored Lombax would sweep his weapon down, obliterating another creature and then quickly step into the opening it had left behind.

From where he was now, there was no way he could reach the outside of the swarm with a single leap, but even one gap in his own defense would spell disaster. 

This fact was proven, as his foot slipped on a patch of sticky bile left behind by a slain Anthropod, causing him to hesitate on his next strike. But his opponents showed no forgiveness as one Anthropod took the brief opportunity to snap its claws around his armored boot and dig its dagger-like teeth into his armored calf with astounding jaw strength.

With a flick of his wrist, Kor brought his wrench back down to his leg, leaving behind no more than a few loose teeth still stuck in his armor when he was done. 

Relief though it was to remove the assailant, Kor had known before he'd even brought down the swing that the move would simply create yet another opening to his other side and a vicious cycle would begin. One that could only be survived if he could withstand an equivalent or worse bite from each of the remaining Anthropods.

Kor's only option was to escape. 

Still following through with the same motion that had cleared the bug off of his calf, Kor completed the arc of his swing and then let his weapon go. 

Before it had even hit the ground, the armored Lombax had leaped with all his strength after it. The wrench slammed into the ground, its weight alone crushing another Anthropod and burying itself into the dirt. 

With amazing precision, Kor himself landed right on top of the weapon's hilt with all the grace of a butterfly. 

Well… a butterfly that wore armor at least.

Realizing that their prey had moved, the chittering horde turned in unison toward his new location, but by the time they had, he'd already leapt away again. 

While the distance to the swarm's exterior had been too far for a single leap, two jumps were just enough to be sufficient. Kor landed hard, coming down into a roll, before he sprung back up, coming to a full stop, and pulling hard on the winch line that he'd attached to his wrench just before he’d thrown it. 

On its return, Kor smoothly caught the massive weapon one-handed and even used its momentum to spin himself around and take one more swipe at the horde before it could react, claiming two more Anthropods as he did.

Still, there were far too many for him to handle head-on. 

As much as he wanted to turn and fight some more, it would be pointlessly risky. His best option now was to run back to the outcrop he'd just left so that he could choke off their numbers between the rocks. 

Deep in his mind, Kor lamented the patronizing look that Kaden would likely give him for not only failing to defeat the threat, but at bringing it back to him, the person he was supposed to be protecting. This thought, hidden in the recesses of his conscious mind, never even brushed against his decision making. For in battle, there was no room for self-reproach and certainly no room for doubt.

Kor turned to make his move, but was surprised to find two large, metal balls, lined with razor blades, rolling rapidly toward him. Flashing back to the battle earlier that morning, he briefly prepared to defend himself from what he saw as another attack, but it was soon apparent that the Kerchu Rollers were not after him.

Both spinning orbs flew right past Kor, ripping out a deep scar through the dirt as they headed directly toward the center of the now perfectly aligned swarm of Anthropods. Goo and chitin flew in all directions as dozens of large insects were chewed up by sharp blades or simply splattered under the weight of the Kerchu Rollers. It was a massacre.

At the end of their lines, Reegeh and Siigih unfurled from the metal spheres. Both looked slightly dizzy at first, but they quickly regained their composure before making their way on foot back to where Kor stood. 

Kaden and Boogoh arrived soon after them.

Now that his mind was no longer in battle mode, all the thoughts that had been blocked out of Kor's mind flooded back in at once. He prepared himself for the mockery and humiliation he deserved for such a foolhardy attack, but... it didn't come.

"I must admit Lombax, your skills and strategy were impressive," acknowledged Reegeh.

This response was the opposite of what Kor had expected and was just as surprising to Kaden as well, "What strategy?” countered Kaden. “To me, it looked like he just ran straight in?"

Reegeh shook his head, "His plan was perfect. Anthropods hide underground until their prey is right on top of them. If you attack them cautiously, they'll just hide until you think it's safe and let your guard down. It's nearly impossible to be sure that you got all of them without scanning equipment. Running in alone like that was something that none of the swarm could resist. Singlehandedly, this Lombax lured out every little  _ (Translation not Found) _ in the area and then lined them up perfectly to be eliminated all at once. No fluke or impromptu plan could have been executed so expertly."

"In fact," added Siigih, "the only downside is that we likely ruined what little meat these  _ (Translation not Found) _ have on them. Most of their organs secret toxins, so any of the good stuff is definitely ruined, but their hearts or flanks can make a fine meal. At least it would be better than these nutrient-rich rations we'll be living off of for the next few days."

Both Reegeh and Siigih then gave Kor nods of approval and Boogoh looked like he'd just witnessed a superhero pull off some amazing feat. Kaden grumbled his displeasure, but said nothing more on the subject. 

Where at first Kor found relief in their praise, it was quickly sucked down into his gut where it weighed on him alongside the rest of his shame at yet another failure. He simply nodded and moved aside.

* * *

Kor watched silently as the group reaffirmed their plans and as the Kerchu set off to their assigned duties, leaving him and Kaden to head off in the opposite direction.

The two Lombaxes had walked in silence for a while, with Kor in the lead as usual... at least until they were out of sight and earshot of Boogoh's group.

Kor reacted to the incoming attack before he was even fully aware of it, his senses throwing his body forward on reflex alone. 

The armored Lombax then spun back around, his wrench gripped tightly at the ready as he stared down the glowering, tan-furred Lombax wielding their own Omni-wrench in their hand.

Kaden raised his head so that it seemed like he was looking down on his partner/enemy, "These ridiculous reflexes of yours really are your saving grace, aren't they?"

There was silence for a moment, "Explain," was all Kor said in response to the strange turn of events. 

It was only one word, but it made it clear that if Kaden didn't have a 'very' good reason for what he'd just done, he would be made to regret having done it.

Kaden just shook his head. No sign of fear from Kor's threat was evident in his expression, "I'm torn, Kor," he said with a mix of humor, disappointment, and even a hint of anger as he took a step forward, causing Kor to adjust his stance to account for the distance change. "This whole time, I've been telling myself that all those incredible stunts you've pulled off were just flukes, that you just barely got away by the hair of your coat with a bit of skill and a lot of luck." Kaden stowed his wrench, but kept walking forward, forcing Kor to adjust again, "But now, when it looks like that 'actually' might be the case, I think I'm even angrier overall, because that means I lost to someone like you."

The two Lombaxes were now within arm's reach of one another. Kor didn't know what to do, Kaden was definitely too close now, but he couldn't attack. He had their mission to consider and it was his duty to protect the aggressive Lombax. 

The two eyed each other for a long moment. Kor was taller than Kaden and much more intimidating, but Kaden's piercing eyes showed nothing but contempt and disregard in them.

At last, Kaden threw out his arm in the direction of the ground, still painted brightly with the remains of Anthropod bits, "What, in council’s name, was that?!" he demanded loudly, 

Kor knew what Kaden was referring to, but he refused to back down, "The obstacle was removed and the damage was minimal," he answered simply and truthfully.

This, however, only seemed to make Kaden angrier. Suddenly, the tan Lombax lunged forward, slamming one of his palms into Kor's chest plate. Kor's reactions were fast, but at this range, he was barely able to dissipate any of the impact by backstepping, before he countered by grabbing a handful of Kaden's collar. 

The two Lombaxes continued to glare at one another, neither easing up the pressure of their hands on the other.

"I don't particularly care if you bite it out here, Kor," Kaden spat bitterly, inches from Kor's metal face, "but according to my calculations, I need you to survive at least until the morning of the day after tomorrow, in order to guarantee that I can complete this mission 'and' get out in one piece." Kaden's expression was cold and his words were brutally honest. The look in his eyes gave Kor a strange feeling. "If you want to get turned into bug food, by all means, go ahead, just give me a warning, so I can switch over to the Kerchu group."

Kaden then gave another shove, catching Kor off guard and causing him to let go. With one last disdainful look, the tan Lombax stomped onward to their goal, fuming from the fact that the person who'd defeated him, who'd nearly killed him, would do something so inept.

Kor watched Kaden walk away as he tried to make sense of what he was feeling.

Before he could figure it out though, Kaden stopped walking again and without turning around, called back, "Do you know how to get to next site from here?"

The question sounded strange to Kor, but it was a simple one, "I am able," he answered simply.

"Good," growled Kaden irritatedly, before the scream of hoverboot jets split the air and he blasted away on twin trails of plasma.

Kor put up a forearm to block the spray of dirt that had been kicked up at him, despite the fact that his face was completely covered already. As the two rows of torched grass slowly burned out, Kor finally realized what he'd been feeling.

It was considered a great shame for a warrior to make a mistake such as running headfirst at an unknown enemy, but it was an even greater insult to one's honor to not take responsibility for it. Only the weak pretended to be strong.

Inside his airtight mask, Kor smiled. He realized that what he felt most now, of all his emotions, was relief. Relief that his partner/rival had seen through what the Kerchu had missed and had refused to accept it. 

It reminded him of an old saying amongst his people,  _ 'A true warrior keeps his enemies at his sides always, for they, far more than any friend, will keep them strong.' _

With a deep breath of air and a shake of his head to dislodge any lingering thoughts, Kor took off in pursuit of possibly his most hated enemy, galaxy-bent on protecting them and fulfilling his due.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anthropods - are a weak, swarmer type of enemy that can be found on Sargasso in the Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction. I try to properly exemplify their behavior as I remember fighting them, annihilating all of them, only to have more pop up and have to waste more ammo. This is why luring them all out at once is such a big deal.


	6. What is Owed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A reminder that when I write ‘Lombax’ with a capital ‘L’ it should be read with feelings like ‘Dog’ or ‘Bird’, while ‘lombax’ with a lowercase ‘l’ should be read as if you saw ‘human’.

Kaden had set up the second Crust Piercer with a bit more familiarity and speed than he’d showed Siigih and Boogoh. Unlike their example, he had set up the central pin first and plugged in the emitter rods as he went around burying them in the ground.

He was just about finished setting it up by the time Kor's heavy boot falls reached his ears. 

It was impressive timing. When Kaden traveled on his hoverboots, he moved roughly ten times faster than his running speed. 

Considering the time since they’d parted, Kaden calculated that Kor had caught up to him at only half the speed of his rocket-propelled movements, making the armored Lombax roughly five times faster than he was for long distance.

It wasn’t important information at the moment, but Kaden archived it in his mind anyway.

In the time since he'd ditched his partner at the first scanner site until now, Kaden's logical mind had been taking the time it needed to reflect on his actions. 

His first thoughts were about how bad of an idea it had been to take a blindside swing at such a fearsomely powerful opponent, especially one who also happened to garner a mutual dislike for him. 

This, however, then pressed his mind to question why he had been inclined to take the swing in the first place. There was the obvious answer, that Kor irritated him, but that had always been an ever-present feeling for him up until now, so what was special about this time? 

It had only taken a little introspective digging for Kaden to come up with a likely answer. 

Kor's disregard for strategy and planning, as he had blindly charged toward an enemy he clearly knew almost nothing about, had been pushing hard against Kaden's psyche. It challenged the mental profile he’d constructed of a Lombax who was nearly flawless in all aspects of combat.

A little more introspective digging though, found that this strange feeling had grown roots far before the incident with the Anthropods. The strange feeling had first started in the exercise facility back at Nova Academy. 

The sight of Kor, helpless and barely alive, had stirred something in Kaden that he'd tried hard to ignore up to this point. But, the seed had been growing in his mind ever since then and was now finally beginning to sprout after seeing Kor's reckless behavior. 

The simple fact was, Kaden could no longer see Kor as just some kind of dangerous monster. Despite his best efforts, the mysterious armored creature that he called his enemy was beginning to appear dangerously more and more lombax as time passed.

_ 'Well, that explains it, _ ’ had been Kaden's next thought. It was just a typical lapse in judgment based on a conflict of perception, a simple phenomenon of basic psychology. He quickly cataloged it internally and rectified the feeling by reconfirming his dislike of Kor, regardless if he was a lombax being or not.

Kaden felt the mild sense of a weight being lifted as a kink in his mental process was smoothed out… but the feeling that something was still not right hadn't gone away completely. 

The only explanation for this was that there was still something else bothering his subconscious, but before he had the chance to dig any deeper, the metallic breathing of his hated partner became too close to ignore.

"Well, look who finally showed up," Kaden sneered, again noting his odd, subconscious desire to pick a fight with someone who had nearly killed him twice already and openly declared his intention to try again, "I'm nearly done with this site."

Kaden could tell from the deeper tone in Kor's breathing that his helmet's regulator was overworking, meaning he was out of breath, "My apologies,” wheezed the metal encased Lombax, “but even at my top speed... I cannot keep up with your fire-feet. For the sake of your security... I suggest at least keeping pace with me."

Kaden felt another twinge of the unknown irritation that he was still trying to isolate. Without warning, he turned around and threw the final emitter rod, that he'd been about to place, straight at Kor.

The armored Lombax easily caught the device, despite the suddenness with which it had been thrown, "How are you supposed to 'protect' me if you can't even keep up?” Kaden demanded. “Why don't you do something useful and place that final rod while I take a break?"

Kor looked down at the rod in his hand, then at the unfinished Crust Piercer that was almost completed, including the lines running from the disc at the top of the central rod to the rest of the emitters, "I believe I would be better suited to sweep the perimeter for threats as I do not understand this equipment well."

"What's the point of checking the area?" mocked Kaden scornfully. "I already scanned the immediate location with sensors and after that last rod is placed we'll be leaving anyway. The least you could do is finish up while I grab a drink," he added as he plucked his canteen from his belt and began walking away.

Kor's grip on the rod tightened angrily, but after a few moments, the armored Lombax bowed slightly and made his way toward the Crust Piercer.

Kaden crested a nearby hill and turned back to watch as Kor tried to study the other rods on the Crust Piercer, trying to figure out how to connect the final one. The tan Lombax sipped from his canteen only lightly, as he wasn't actually thirsty, and he wracked his mind trying to figure out what it was that had his subconscious in a knot. 

The only thing Kaden knew for sure was that his armored bodyguard was at the center of it. In the confused Lombax’s mind, Kor wasn’t following his personality model, that was to say, he wasn’t following Kaden’s predictions.

Back on the shuttle, Kaden had been greatly relieved to have reached a compromise with Kor, but that compromise was only as stable as his faith in the red-armored Lombax to follow his predictions. If Kaden couldn’t predict his opponent's thoughts, then he had no reason to trust his word, let alone their actions.

As Kaden continued to drink from his canteen absentmindedly, he looked around at the expansive green and brown skyline that stretched for miles. With his sharp, Lombax ears he could hear the incessant buzzing of insects from all directions, the distant cawing of pterodactyls in the distance, and, every now and then, he could have sworn that he caught the guttural growl of something bigger. 

Kaden was light years from home, on a very unfamiliar and ‘very’ hostile planet. He had previously brushed aside his concern by doing simple calculations, matching his brilliance and the combined combat prowess of his group against the mindless wild was no worry to him.

But, if he was honest, Kor’s presence had made up more than fifty percent of his calculated combat potential for their party. If he could not calculate Kor’s actions or motives, then he couldn’t completely count on Kor in a worst-case scenario and that made Kaden feel much more isolated and alone on this vast, hostile alien world.

Kaden turned back to the focus of his woes and watched as Kor finally figured out how the rod was connected and began studying the center disc itself, trying to figure out what happens next, of which he clearly knew nothing.

There was a sudden spark of electricity, as Kor pressed his metal finger against something he shouldn't have. 

The sudden flash of light and the sharp crack of noise almost made Kaden drop his canteen.

It wasn't the ‘spark’ that caught him off-guard, though… It was the realization of what was bothering him!

Kor Vol’terran, his hated enemy, was right now attempting to do something he had no clue how to do, not because it was his job, but because Kaden had told him to do it. 

Nowhere in the mission briefing file did it say that the Military Field unit was subservient to the Science Field unit. In fact, the briefing expressly stated that the Military Field element had priority over the mission when it came to safety. 

Kaden was technically both a Military unit and Science unit for this mission, but Kor was the higher level Military student, which meant that Kor outranked him.

Back at the gel rig, when they'd first landed, Kor had said 'as you command' and had done exactly what Kaden had told him to, without hesitation. As the superior Military unit of the mission, Kor had free reign to make the decisions concerning combat or to at least argue against Kaden's. 

There was also the time when Kor had stood up for Kaden's planned route after Reegeh had challenged it. Anyone whose only object was the group's safety would have at least heard out the Kerchu's concerns rather than blindly defending the opinion of someone they supposedly hated.

All of this clashed directly with Kaden’s perception of what Kor’s motivation was. Kor had said that he would cooperate with Kaden ‘only’ because he was duty-bound by the mission, but Kor was going above and beyond his mission parameters. 

The armored Lombax was following his orders obediently and wasn’t even rising to insults, or even to open sucker punches thrown in his direction. Instead, he was acting like someone who actually ‘trusted’ Kaden, or worse... someone who was trying to get him to let his guard down.

Kaden watched, slit-eyed, as Kor jumped back quickly to avoid the sudden opening of the Crust Piercer's metallic sheet, which had unfolded rapidly from the center rod. 

After one last look around, Kor made his way to where Kaden stood to report what he suspected was the device's completion.

"Why did you do that?" Kaden demanded before anything else could be said, glaring coldly as if Kor had just committed some unspeakable crime.

The armored Lombax tilted his head in confusion, "I… do not understand."

Kaden clenched his jaw angrily and stabbed an accusing finger at the now completed scanner site, "Why did you finish the Crust Piercer?"

Kor turned back to look at the device, wondering if he'd done his task wrong, but Kaden's question did not seem to indicate this was the case, "Because... you ordered me to?" he eventually answered, still unsure as to what this conversation was about.

"And why did you follow my order?" Kaden pressed further, his eyes growing ever darker with each 'why'.

Kor was beginning to fear that the tan-furred Lombax was not right of mind, "Because that is my duty," he replied redundantly.

"No it isn't!" shouted Kaden, surprising both of them with his tone. He even took an aggressive step forward as he continued his tirade, "Your job is to kill things that get in our way and to make sure I can do ‘my’ job. Nowhere in the mission briefing did it mention you had to help do ‘my’ job, much less obey ‘my’ orders!"

Kor took a step back from the crazed Lombax as his confusion began shifting into caution, "I am a warrior, charged with your safety and wellbeing. I simply trust that assisting you will further aid that cause. That is all."

Kaden didn't break eye contact as he began to shake his head back and forth slowly, "So you'll obey my orders just for the sake of the mission, huh?" he questioned, so softly that it had likely not meant to be heard by anyone else but himself. Kaden took yet another large step forward, closing the gap between him and Kor again, "Then I order you to stay still."

Kaden suddenly reached forward, as if to grab hold of Kor, but the armored Lombax's reflexes were ever vigilant. Kor slid backwards as if he'd been standing on ice, easily dodging Kaden's reach. However, the softly spoken command of 'stay still' rang out somewhere in the back of his mind and prevented him from moving as far away as he'd intended.

Then there was a sudden crack that split the air as Kaden's NID activated his gauntlet's repulsor fields. Kor, who was unfortunate enough to be just inches away from them, and on the repulsing side, was blasted clear off his feet. 

The armored Lombax flew through the air as if being pulled by some invisible chain. 

As sudden as the attack had been, however, the skilled warrior was able to use his body's momentum to summersault back onto his feet. He came up facing his attacker with a newly formed pain in his chest and abdomen. Cautiously, he began putting more distance between the two of them, completely unsure of how to proceed.

A small portion of Kaden's mind was yet again impressed with Kor's skill and combat prowess, but the vast majority of it was stuck in a loop, repeatedly demanding answers,  _ 'It doesn't make sense!' _ his thoughts screamed.

Somewhere amongst the storm of thinking, the conversation from the shuttle replayed itself,  _ '…I fulfill my duties ‘only’ because they are my duties and for no other reason,' _ Kor had said.  _ 'I despise you,' _ had been his words. 

These were not the words of someone who would willingly follow every beck and call of the person they 'despised'. Everything Kaden had studied about Kor's behavior so far was being directly challenged by this one inconsistency and he was now on the brink of being proven wrong again!

"I said..." Kaden growled quietly, as he pulled back his arm, "Stay still!" and he hurled a fully powered Fastball straight at his enemy.

Kor dove hard to avoid the fiery ball of nuclear energy and was barely able to clear the danger zone, before enough dirt to fill a small crater erupted into the air and rained down upon him. 

Another Fastball came hissing forward through the dust mere seconds after the first. This time, however, Kor had unsheathed his wrench and was prepared for the attack. 

With quickly calculated, but still precise timing, the armored warrior batted the glowing orb away like a baseball. It sailed clear up into the sky before popping like a firework.

The dust began to settle and Kor found Kaden now had a wild look in his piercing eyes, but his body language, conversely, did not say he was looking for a fight. 

"Have you gone insane?!" Kor demanded in a metallic tone that was more genuine confusion than anger.

"So, you can disobey an order to save yourself?" muttered the mad Lombax, as if simply noting an observation to himself.  _ 'But he still hasn't made any attempt to counterattack,' _ his mind pointed out in response. 

_ 'No, there must be a breaking point,' _ his mind countered.  _ 'If it is true that he's simply following the mission's mandate, then he should know that the Military Unit has authority to restrain team members if they become a danger to the group or the mission. This definitely constitutes both.' _

Kaden nodded his agreement, "Then let's find that breaking point, shall we?"

The tan Lombax then unleashed a barrage of Fastballs at his target, one right after the other. 

Each one was either cleanly dodged or batted away by their armored target. 

However, Kaden's attacks were not aimed at the ground for effectiveness this time, as their goal now was not to defeat Kor, but to force him into attacking. 

Kaden watched Kor's movements carefully and angrily noted that the armored warrior was careful as to not send any of the deflected attacks back his way.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he yelled, as he launched another Fastball.

"Those are my words!" Kor shouted back, as he swatted the attack away.

"Why are you just dodging and deflecting instead of attacking?" Kaden pressed, while still throwing burning balls of plasma.

"It is my duty to protect you," was all Kor answered with.

Kaden growled in irritation and halted his chain of attacks, "If you won't stop me, how do you plan to complete the mission?" he questioned impatiently, but as if he truly wished for an answer.

Kor too stopped moving, now that the immediate threat seemed to have passed, "You cannot keep this up forever. You will either run out of power, or the will to continue, and when that happens, we can then proceed with the mission."

Kaden glared hard at Kor, "So you're just going to continue evading until I give up, is that it?" he asked.

But the enraged Lombax didn't wait for a response. He immediately raised both hands in front of him, with his palms facing outward. A second later, bright balls of energy flashed into fiery life from each hand and quickly began to grow as his Nuclear Fists charged a shot apiece.

As the loud whine of growing, compressed power filled the air, Kaden watched Kor's form slowly become eclipsed by the two expanding balls of energy in his hands. 

Kor had been the source of Kaden's confusion on so many occasions. Even now his mind was filled with questions that still lacked answers, but it was at this moment that he'd decided he'd had enough. No longer would he wait while an unanswerable question burned in the back of his mind. It was right here, and right now, that he'd have his answer... no matter what!

"Fine," Kaden declared coldly, "if you won't tell me your true motivation, then you can just die here."

Kor had recognized the attack the moment his opponent/partner had raised his hands, but he could do nothing to stop it. In a very rare turn of events, Kor's mind froze. 

He could not stop the attack without hurting Kaden, but he knew these orbs of power were much more formidable than the previous ones. He had almost no chance of deflecting one, let alone both, with his wrench.

If he tried to run, Kaden could simply aim at the ground and catch him between the shockwaves, or even use that new beam attack he'd demonstrated when they'd first landed on Sargasso. That wasn't even taking into account what would happen if this mad Lombax combined the two and used that devastating attack that had defeated him in their last showdown. There seemed to be no way out.

As the whine of the Nuclear Fists reached their crescendo, Kor came to a hard decision. Relaxing his combat stance, the armored warrior dropped his wrench to the ground with a thud, "I seek to regain my tail," he declared reluctantly.

For a long while, nothing happened. Kaden didn't move and Kor was unsure if he'd been heard through the weapons' noise. 

Then there was a loud bang as Kaden's gauntlets deactivated and waves of superheated air poured from the sides of the devices.

The large balls of contained nuclear fire dissipated rapidly until a clearly confused Lombax face became visible behind them, "Huh?" was all Kaden could say in response.

Somewhere in the depths of Kaden's mind, a small part of him was still thinking clearly enough to appreciate the irony of the situation. He had been on the verge of possibly murdering someone due to his confusion and inability to comprehend something about Kor. However, it was by becoming even more confused due to receiving a completely incomprehensible answer, that had caused him to stop.

A long, metallic sigh emanated from Kor's helmet speakers, "Among my people, there is a tradition where the debt of failure must be repaid. When one warrior loses to another in a fight to the death, but suffered the shame of surviving, the victor would sever their tail and wear it as a trophy. Their tail then became proof that, had the victor wished it, they could have taken the defeated's life. From that point on, the disgraced warrior would serve the victor in all aspects and only after they had repaid that life, would their tail be returned to them."

Kaden blinked several times as his mind, previously on the verge of meltdown, received a substantial load of information while still trying to return to normal operations, "I… don't remember cutting off your tail," was what his mind chose to reply with, as it continued to digest the input.

Kor shook his armored head, "My people no longer participate in the tail severing aspect of the ritual, but the meaning of the act still remains. Though, I have always regretted the fact that I would never experience such a venerable tradition. Regardless, you have defeated me in battle, so I must restore my honor by repaying that debt of life."

There were many things about what Kor had said that needed to be addressed. There was the fact that his people had, at one point, ritualistically mutilated each other, then there was the much more concerning issue of Kor apparently wishing they still did, but the plot point that filled Kaden's thoughts the most was the fact that his mortal enemy was now honor bound to serve him.

Cross-checking it against the inconsistencies in Kor’s actions so far, Kaden’s mind, to its own surprise, concluded that some strange, tribal warrior’s debt ‘would’ properly explain Kor’s strange actions of submission.

A wave of excitement then filled Kaden's mind as he reflected this possibility. It was an unbelievable plot-twist, but more importantly, it explained all of Kor's behavior without refuting what Kaden already knew.

"So... because I beat you in our last match, you have to do whatever I say?" Kaden asked, still skeptical, but liking the concept more with every passing second.

Kor nodded, "I must now return to you twice my life's value through service, in order to regain my honor."

Kaden liked the sound of that, but a few parts still stuck out to him, "Twice?" he repeated curiously.

Kor nodded again, "Just as the stolen tail represents a life lost and now owed, I also owe you a debt of life after the night in the training chamber. Had you not acted, despite my attempts to harm you, I would not live now."

Kaden suddenly recalled Kor's confusing words at the time,  _ 'That's twice now,' _ and a grin slowly creased his face. 

It felt to the young Lombax as if he'd discovered presents on Christmas morning; there could be no explaining for the elation he felt at suddenly being given the ability to answer two confusing questions about Kor in such a short span of time.

An abrupt realization then came to Kaden's mind. Kor had to do whatever he said, that meant the Lombax himself had to answer any question he was asked! Kaden had just found the galactic mother lode!

Kor tilted his head to one side as he studied the range of odd expressions that shifted across the apparently insane, tan-furred Lombax's face. He had hoped that he'd be able to repay his honor debt without Kaden learning of it, but it had been a naïve hope. If there was one thing Kor had to admit, it was that his enemy/new master was ‘very’ observant. It was a trait that he feared could continue to cause even more trouble for him.

As Kaden's mind wandered through the library of questions he'd been storing in the back of his mind, he finally noticed that he was being hailed through his NID's connection to his short-wave radio. He activated it with a thought,

"Kaden, Kor, do either of you two hear me?" came Siigih's voice through Kaden's NID.

"Yeah, this is Kaden," the tan-furred Lombax replied, seemingly to thin air as Kor mentally noted 'talking to oneself' as another sign of madness. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" repeated Siigih in confusion. "We could hear explosions coming from where you and Kor were supposed to be setting up the second piercer site. Are you both ok? We're heading there now."

"Oh!" blurted Kaden, with sudden realization, "Oh, no. No, we're fine. It was just, um… a thing… that happened. We're fine, so... you don’t have to worry and can just get back to setting up the sites on your side."

There was a short span of silence, "Are... you sure?" pressed Siigih, not quite satisfied with Kaden's answer.

"Yes, I'm sure, Siigih. There is ‘nothing’ to worry about," Kaden insisted with a grin.

"Very well then. We shall see you back at the first site," finished Siigih's voice, before cutting out.

The conversation with Siigih had reminded Kaden that they were on a schedule and needed to get back to work. His questions for Kor would have to wait, but that was fine. He'd waited this long for answers and now that they were within his grasp, he would use the rest of the day to pick out what he wanted to ask and how he wanted to ask it.

However, he did not have very long before the sun set on Sargasso, "Alright then," Kaden said casually, "Now that that's settled, let's get this mission over with." He then began walking in the direction of the next piercer site.

"Wait!" shouted Kor's metallic voice, "Is that it?"

Kaden turned around to face him, "Is what it?" he asked, looking confused

Kor held up his arms and gestured at the dozen or so craters that were still smoking lazily, "What was this about?"

"Oh, that," intoned Kaden calmly, "You were acting weird and it was bothering me."

Kaden couldn't see it through the helmet, but Kor's mouth fell open in astonishment, “‘I’ was acting weird?" he repeated in disbelief.

Kaden nodded without realizing the subtle sarcasm in Kor's metallic voice, "Yeah, you were, but your explanation fits, so it's all good now."

Kor took one last look around at the scorched earth before turning back to Kaden, "You are truly insane, do you realize this?"

Kaden shrugged indifferently before raising his hand in the air, holding his palm flat before rocking it back and forth, "Eh, it's a fine line," he replied, before turning back around and continuing to walk as if everything had been cleared up.

Kor shook his head as the crazy, tan-furred Lombax that he was now sworn to serve walked away, without waiting for him to follow.

Then Kaden suddenly stopped moving as he remembered something important, "Oh and Kor," he said without turning around, "They're called 'hoverboots'."

A moment later, the familiar roar of tiny rocket engines filled the air and Kaden blasted off into the horizon at breakneck speed. 

He had remembered that he didn't like Kor.

Kor let out an exhausted sigh,  _ 'This is going to be a long mission,' _ he thought, before sprinting after his new master.

* * *

The rest of the day was passed relatively uneventfully as Kaden and Kor setup each of the next three sites which they were responsible for. Each time, Kaden repeated the act of hoverbooting off and forcing Kor to run after him. 

Though, truthfully he did it more because he simply didn't feel like walking the full distance, rather than to simply give Kor a hard time... that was just a bonus.

After the Piercers were set up, the two Lombaxes returned to the first location where they met back up with the Kerchu. Both groups had left a few of their heavier supplies here as they'd be setting up camp in this location for tonight, while they waited for the Crust Piercers to finish their task and for their geometric scan data to be transferred into Kaden's NID. 

The whole process would take several hours and the sky was already beginning to darken. After they woke the next morning, they would repeat the day's objective with the primary goal being dismantling the sites rather than assembling them. 

They would then repeat this process on the next swath of land.

"What is that?" asked Kaden as he arrived at the first Piercer site, ahead of Kor as usual. 

His question was referring to the heap of what looked like dead bio-material of various plant life from the area.

"It is a campfire," explained Boogoh excitedly. "With it we can cook food and have a hot meal. I rarely get to make them since I spend most days in school or on diplomatic missions with my father."

Kaden nodded to show he'd heard, "Yes, I know what a campfire is, but my question was, ‘what is that’?” he repeated. “It looks like a pile of dead flora?"

Boogoh returned Kaden's confused look with one of his own and so the Lombax dug through his supplies and pulled out a fat, metal cylinder. He then placed the object on the ground and clapped his hands twice. 

Immediately a roaring ball of blue flame erupted from the top of the device.

Boogoh jumped back in surprise, but Siigih, having seen the exchange from a distance, quickly approached Kaden, "I know you Lombaxes cherish your technology, but we Kerchu have a certain aesthetic that we prefer to follow," he explained with a slight gesture to the crestfallen look on Boogoh's face. "Besides, is it not better to save the fuel of your fire device while the land offers us an easy alternative?"

Kaden shrugged, “I don’t think the mission will last that long, but ok,” he conceded before clapping his hands twice again, deactivating his wide-spectrum, thermal emitter with a whoosh of vanishing flame. 

Siigih nodded his thanks and returned to tending the pile of dead plants.

Boogoh had cheered up again upon seeing that he'd get to make an ‘old-fashioned’ campfire after all, but then suddenly looked around in confusion, "Mr. Kaden?" he began curiously, "Was Mr. Kor not with you?"

Kaden summoned a great deal of willpower not to grin at the question, "Er, Kor? Yeah, he's just… double checking the area. He'll be joining us shortly."

Boogoh nodded his understanding and returned to building the campfire with Siigih.

Kaden then set to work preparing his own campsite. He reverified the supplies they’d brought to ensure he missed nothing and pulled out what food and gear he'd need for the night, while also replacing anything he'd used today. 

Next came putting up his tent, a task which took him a whole thirty seconds thanks to the ancient model of Auto-shelter he'd grabbed from the supply bunker. The young Lombax couldn’t say he enjoyed these ‘roughing it’ conditions, but he supposed mission efficiency took priority.

Boogoh had been carrying back another heap of sticks and was about to help Siigih start the fire when he witnessed Kaden's tent rise from the ground on its own. The young Kerchu looked on with fascination as the shelter put itself together. 

Not enjoying being ignored, however, Siigih reached up and gave his young master a light pull on his ear fur, causing a slight squeak of discomfort, but effectively returning Boogoh's attention to his task at hand.

At that moment, an armored figure came running up to the camp. Kaden nodded with satisfaction upon seeing that, even through his armor, Kor was visibly fighting to regain his breath.

"Welcome back," smiled Kaden smugly.

Kor gave the grinning Lombax a sideways glance and low growl could be heard from his helmet, but other than that, he offered no reaction. 

Kaden sighed in mild disappointment at not getting a rise out of his partner/enemy, though it did remind him that Kor was now his servant.

Without warning, Kaden tossed a square device at him.

The armored Lombax caught it easily and looked back up at Kaden, both with curiosity and suspicion, "What is this?" he asked, half-expecting it to blow up in his hands.

Kaden rolled his eyes, "It's your tent," he said as if it should have been obvious.

Kor looked down at the device and studied it before looking at Kaden’s tent and shaking his head, "I have no need,” he argued. “Such a small enclosure will hinder my mobility and decrease my reaction time to an attack in the night."

But Kaden shook his own head in response, "The squalls here on Sargasso are pretty nasty, you know. The rain is pretty much pure acid and can be filled with parasites. What are you going to do if it starts to come down suddenly at night?" Kaden asked of the Lombax who was covered from ear to toe in hermetically-sealed combat armor that was also built to withstand dangerous environments, including space.

There was a brief moment of silence as the two Lombaxes debated internally whether the obvious need be stated or not.

This silence was, thankfully, broken by a sudden, high pitch squeak of surprise that Kaden's NID kept telling him it couldn't translate. 

They both turned to see a bright fire growing rapidly over the dead plant material that the Kerchu had gathered, while a panicked Boogoh rapidly slapped a section of his fur that was smoking slightly. 

A second later, Reegeh appeared from the other side of the campsite, carrying what looked like a massive dragonfly and beckoned everyone to join him.

* * *

The party of five all sat around the campfire as the (not entirely enjoyable) aroma of freshly cooked Grubsnucker wafted through the air. 

Nevertheless, the three Kerchu watched the steaming carcass eagerly. Apparently, the part of Kerchu 'aesthetic' that determined what appeared to be edible was completely different from that of the Lombaxes'.

"Don't we have to worry about the fire attracting local wildlife?" asked Kaden curiously. He wasn't worried about Anthropods or Grubsnuckers, but as he now finally had a chance to relax on Sargasso, the Dean's mention of being eaten by Grunthors came back to his mind.

It was Reegeh who answered, shaking his head as he prodded his roasting kill to check how done it was, "Small pockets of swamp gas can sometimes mix with veins of gelatonium. It's a volatile mixture that catches fire easily and is usually poisonous to breathe. Most creatures here know to stay away from fire for this reason."

Kaden nodded his understanding and sat quietly as Reegeh poked the charred Grubsnucker hide once more. The large Kerchu then smiled brightly and quickly removed the carcass from the fire, before proceeding to slice off the creature's skin, leaving behind a surprisingly small amount of edible material for such a fat animal.

Everyone was given an equal piece of meat, though Kaden declined his portion, something that Reegeh had no qualms about. 

It wasn't that Kaden wasn't willing to try it or that he knew he didn't like Grubsnucker, it was just that he happened to be one of the rare, few people who actually enjoyed eating the flavorless nutrition bricks and pastes from their survival packs. To him, the perfectly measured globs and cubes of nutrients tasted better than sweet or savory. To him, they tasted… efficient.

It took the tan Lombax no more than a minute to complete his meal, which allowed him to focus on how the other Lombax in the group was going to eat his food. This was one of the many things that he’d been curious about.

It wasn't just Kaden, either. After savoring their first few bites of Grubsnucker, the six eyes of his Kerchu companions began shifting subtly toward the masked figure of the group, each one curious to see even a glimpse of the mysterious person beneath it. 

Seemingly unaware, the armored Lombax held up his cut of Grubsnucker meat. Kaden could feel the air become tense, as they all waited to see.

Kor did not disappoint, either. His new combat helmet opened much like his old one did, only much faster. 

In a flash, the metal plating from across his jawline was gone, revealing the dozens of terrifying, razor-sharp fangs that made up his teeth. An instant later, most of these teeth had been sunk deep into animal flesh as Kor shoved nearly a full third of his portion into his mouth. This was followed quickly by the spine chilling sound of Grubsnucker fat and sinew being ripped apart by powerful jaws, before the bite had been completed and Kor's helmet resealed itself.

The whole event took less than two seconds and the muffled sounds of chewing could barely be heard beneath the mask that also hid any other signs of what had just transpired, aside from the slight bobbing of his head. 

Kaden had to admit that the sight had been a startling one, even though he had known about Kor's unique dental work ahead of time. 

The Kerchu, on the other hand, despite having quite large and dangerous looking teeth themselves, appeared to have lost a portion of their appetite. 

Also, by the look on Boogoh's face, though Kaden didn't want to verify it, the young Kerchu may have wet himself.

Siigih leaned over to whisper in Kaden's ear, "Is… is it normal for Lombaxes to… um, eat like that?" he asked with mild concern.

Kaden put his hand to his chin and pretended to ponder the question. 

A moment later he smiled and said, "Nope," before turning away and offering no more insight.

"This is quite good," remarked Kor to Reegeh, after far too short a pause for the amount of meat he'd just shoved in his mouth.

Reegeh swallowed hard and nodded at the compliment, "I am... pleased you like it."

Kor raised the chunk of meat to his helmet again and there was another visible shift from the group, this time it was to avert their eyes.

But the next bite did not come. Instead, Kor hesitated and lowered the meat again before jabbing a finger into it. After a few seconds of digging, Kor pulled out a small metal spike and held it up.

Reegeh's eyes grew wide when he saw the object, “Oh! I am very sorry," he apologized as he reached forward and plucked the object from Kor's hand. "This was a shard from one of the Buzz Blades I used to down this creature. I had thought I'd been thorough in their removal, but it seems I was wrong. Again, I apologize deeply."

Kor didn't seem to be upset as he tilted his head in curiosity, "What is a 'Buzz Blade'?" he asked.

Reegeh took a moment to set his own meat down and then reached into his supply bag, before pulling out a small device. With a squeeze of the trigger the device then unfolded into what looked like a short barreled pistol, except, where there should have been a projectile tube, there was instead a sharp looking, buzzsaw-style blade, slowly rotating between two magnetic field generators.

"There was once a gang of Kerchu carpenters that wanted a faster way to slice up trees and wood," explained Reegeh as he showed off the weapon. "This was the result of their efforts. Even though they went rogue and started chopping down whole acres of unsanctioned logging sites, after their arrest and subsequent execution, this little device ended up as a staple of the Kerchu Special Forces. It's lightweight, has a high rate of fire, and is perfect for groups of pesky little enemies. Especially the ones that fly around and attack from a range like this Grubsnucker here," he added with a gesture to the skinned animal hide that he'd tossed away.

Kor studied the Grubsnucker remains and the device closely, "These 'Grubsnuckers'," he intoned curiously, but also with a serious attentiveness, "they can fly and attack from a distance?"

Reegeh nodded, "That's right. They buzz around like irritating insects just out of reach. Then they puff up their fat bellies before spewing out wads of corroding stomach acid. If you come into contact with any Grubsnuckers, you’d better make sure you shoot them down quickly. Once they get going, their moves are hard to predict."

Kor continued to study the Grubsnucker corpse intently, "I see," was all he said in reply.

In the short silence that followed, Reegeh and Siigih returned to their meal, while Boogoh seemed to be plucking up his courage while he continued to stare at the red-armored Lombax.

"What sort of weapons do you use, Mr. Kor?" the young Kerchu asked timidly.

Kor turned his masked face to the source of the question and studied Boogoh much the same way he'd done the corpse, which was very disconcerting, "Currently, I am only in possession of my Malleus Wrench and a high-quality Vibro-knife that I 'acquired' recently," he explained calmly.

The Kerchu were all surprised to hear that Kor was not in possession of a ranged weapon. 

But not nearly as surprised as Kaden, "So are you telling me that you came to Sargasso without anything more than your oversized wrench and a pocket knife?!" he demanded, incredulous at the very idea.

Kor slowly turned his head to face the source of this second question, "I do have a light pistol that I also recently 'acquired', but it seems to be custom made for a certain grip and would have been more of a hassle than a help had I brought it."

Kaden shook his head, "What about your pistols?" he pressed angrily. If Kor didn't have any ranged weapons, then it essentially made him all but useless if they ran into a hive of Grubsnuckers. That did not fit his plan of survival.

A low growl emanated from Kor's mask, "I lost both my Castor and my Pollux pistols in a recent battle. I was told they were beyond repair."

"Then you should have bought some second-hand blaster before you came out on this mission! Anything would be better than nothing," Kaden lectured. 

Then he remembered something else, "What about your Metal Storm?" he asked next. Kaden was still unhappy about Kor having a weapon of his design, but he would rather that be the case than to know that his partner had nothing else to fight with.

Kor's fist tightened and he shook his head, "That was also heavily damaged in the previous battle. Only one of its control nodes still remains operational," he admitted, almost sadly.

Kaden threw up his hands in disbelief. Kor's only ranged weapon was a single MS magnetic control node, with which he could do little more than lift a few pounds of iron at any decent distance. Any object weighing more than that would have to be highly magnetic and there weren't many super magnetic boulders lying around out here in the swamp.

Kerchu were very instinctive creatures and both Siigih and Reegeh could sense a tension growing, but apparently, Boogoh was either too young or simply too out of touch with his instincts to notice, "Might I ask, what is this 'Metal Storm'?" he asked curiously. He was fascinated with all Lombax technology and a device called a 'Metal Storm' seemed too intriguing not to inquire about.

Kor suddenly let out a long, static-ridden sigh and looked up into the air as if lost in thought, "It was a truly wondrous weapon," the armored Lombax recalled fondly. 

Kaden's ears picked up at the sudden, unexpected compliment and he listened intently as Kor continued, "I found it in the back room of a weapons store. Supposedly it used magnetic fields and could turn any nearby piece of scrap metal into a deadly weapon. The merchant had said that it was still experimental and that its inventor had deemed it unusable, leaving only the one operational model, but from the moment I tested its functions, I knew that it was a work of art!" 

Kaden's feelings were quickly becoming jumbled and confusing to him as he listened further, "Unlike every other weapon on sale, which only focused on larger and wider shots or explosions, this one weapon required skill. The skill of a true warrior." 

Kaden could feel his ego being stroked with every word.

Boogoh looked on with wide eyes, "Wow! It's like the ancient Kerchu stories of warriors finding their destined weapon," he cooed happily.

Kor nodded his agreement, "Yes, yes. It was a truly magnificent device. And the best part was, since no one else wanted it or could even use it, the merchant gave it to me for a great price!" 

Kaden was suddenly back to feeling angry again. 

Kor then sighed once more and this time he lowered his head, "I had barely tapped the device's potential before I lost it. If only I’d had more time to master it, I could have made it a weapon worthy of legend."

"Huh," scoffed Kaden, "if it was a weapon of legend, then I guess you lost it because you were unworthy."

Kor's fist clenched tightly and a deep, angry growl creeped out of his mask as he brought his gaze back to his antagonist, "Yes. It is as you say. I lost my weapons, my honor, and most of my skin, all in one fell swoop. But I have regained my flesh and I 'will' regain my honor. Then I will have my vengeance."

Kaden simply shook his head and smirked at Kor's words, "If you ask me, I should have cooked you a bit longer. You seem to be a bit half-baked," he mocked jovially, using a joke he'd actually been waiting to use for a while now.

The joke was over quickly as Kor got to his feet, his emotionless mask was lit up frighteningly by the burning fire and a bloody scrap of meat still dripping in his free hand, "You mock my torment?” barked angrily. “Can you even grasp the pain of being cooked alive in one’s own armor?! Never have I experienced such damage and suffering in all the times it’s happened!"

Kaden had stood up as well, ready and willing to face his aggressor’s challenge, but his mind faltered at Kor's words, "Are you saying that you've been cooked alive more than once?!" he declared loudly, using the fighting tone he’d planned for different words.

Kor did not change his posture or his tone as he answered, "My home is on the edge of an eternally active volcano. Slipping on spots of soft ground and falling into one of the many rivers of lava is not uncommon."

"That… makes sense!" Kaden growled back, still in confrontation mode.

Oblivious to the real tension in the air, Boogoh was about to ask Kor about this home of Lava, but Reegeh stopped him as Siigih took up position between the two Lombaxes.

The kindly Kerchu tried to smile disarmingly to both Lombaxes, a surprisingly effective measure, Kaden noted, considering a Kerchu's face closely resembled that of a hamster, "Well, it has clearly been a long day. I for one believe that we should all get some rest. Tomorrow promises to be an even longer day and Sargasso's sun does not remain set for long this time of year."

Kaden and Kor still eyed each other for several more seconds, until it was the tan Lombax that broke the stalemate, "Fine," he conceded at last, "The scanners should take another two hours to finish and the sun rises in six. I'll show you and Boogoh how to dismantle the sites in the morning and then we can head off to the next rendezvous point." And with that Kaden marched off to his tent.

Kor watched him go before turning back and bowing a respectful goodnight to Siigih. He then marched off to find a good spot to sleep. Someplace that hid him from sight, but also offered a good view of the area.

Siigih sighed in relief as the two Lombaxes disappeared and Reegeh moved Boogoh to his tent. 

The experienced Kerchu was well aware that his species’ anger and aggression was famous throughout the galaxy, but as one of the few races with close ties to their fellow furred, sentient beings, he knew of the true horrors that could be unleashed by an enraged Lombax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter originally came out pretty quickly considering how long I spent on it, but for a lot of the time, something didn't sit right with me. I didn't know what it was, so I ignored it, but right before I was going to send it to my editor, I was going to bed and just decided to rewrite almost half of it.
> 
> Originally, Kaden had hoverbooted away after realizing something is up with Kor and he spends the rest of the chapter goading and probing him, pushing him to the edge to see how far Kor would take this odd behavior. Eventually, Kaden was going to demand that Kor tell him what his 'game' was, which Kor would immediately do because he was honor-bound to answer if asked directly.
> 
> I didn't do it intentionally, but I wonder if Kaden's major outburst at refusing to accept another unanswerable question was based on my frustration with how drawn out this chapter had felt. In my head, the plan was that Kaden was supposed to take this roundabout, methodical approach as is typical of him, but I was like "NO! Screw that!" and it turned into Kaden essentially acting out those words. It sounds possible, though I don’t know how I feel about the thought of angry writing being a thing, as it is not a fast or fun process at all.


	7. A Tale of Two Lombaxes, Part 1

Kaden opened his eyes and blinked hard until the roof of his tent came into focus. The twilight morning sun was making the fabric walls of his room glow obnoxiously bright and he wished it'd stop.

In his mind, he wanted to go back to sleep, but he'd played out this situation many times before, so he knew he'd never accomplish it.

Sleep was something Kaden's restless and ever seeking mind had never been very good at, but one of his worst quirks was that whenever he had something to do in the morning, he would inevitably wake up far too early and be brought unwillingly to full consciousness.

Knowing all of this the tan Lombax sighed, before quickly sitting up, putting on his light armor, and stepping out into the morning light.

After a quick stretch, he hastily removed all of the expeditionary equipment from his tent and initiated the reseal function of his auto-shelter.

In just a few minutes all of his stuff was packed, double-checked, and ready to go.

It was at about this time, as per usual, when a sudden wave of exhaustion hit Kaden and he grumpily laid out across the damp morning grass.

It was true that when he had something he needed to do in the morning, he was blessed with an easy return to alertness when he arose. However, every time this happened, it was always too early to begin said task, as evidenced by the still sealed tents of the Kerchu, mingled with the surprisingly clear sound of snoring from this distance.

Worse than the bad timing, though, was the fact that roughly ten minutes after he awoke, no matter what he did to try and keep focused, his body demanded to go back to sleep. He also knew, from experience, that even if he had stayed in bed for an hour, he still would not have been able to sleep again.

What would come next for him were several hours of drowsy irritability. He only hoped that the Kerchu would be awake soon and that the mission could get back underway before his tired frustration really set in.

This morning was a special one though, as it brought with it a new kind of terrible aggravation. It came to him in the form of a shadow that overcast his closed eyelids.

Kaden opened his eyes and blinked once more until the shadow turned into a familiarly green-masked face, attached to a red-armored body that was staring down at him.

"You were awake?" the tired Lombax questioned, biting back an insult that was born from only half of his actual dislike for said face. It just didn't feel right to Kaden for him to verbally degrade someone unless he completely meant it.

Kor tilted his head slightly, "I am awake as you are awake," he answered simply.

Kaden squinted up at the figure, "What do you mean?" he asked, assuming he was just too tired to understand.

"I was asleep, then I heard you rise. Thus, I am awake," Kor elaborated. "I watched you leave your tent and begin to pack your equipment before I did a sweep of the area. No wildlife or other dangers appear to have approached our camp during the night," he reported dutifully.

Kaden sat up, yawned, and rubbed his eyes before looking back at Kor, "You're saying that you were dead asleep and you managed to wake up just from the sound of me getting out of bed?" he questioned sheepishly as he took a quick look at the two distant boulders that Kor had slept between last night.

Kor simply nodded and Kaden continued to blink the sleep from his tired eyes, "You've got some pretty good hearing, don't you?" he noted absently.

"I have never heard from another's ear, but if that is what it seems, then I cannot argue," replied the armored Lombax vaguely.

Kaden felt another twinge of an insult coming up in reaction to what he perceived as Kor's smugness toward a clearly superior ability, but again he pushed it down, still suspecting that his condition was more to blame than his actual indignation.

"I've always wondered about that though," Kaden continued inquisitively. "Shouldn't hearing everything through a helmet's audio filter decrease the sharpness of the sounds?"

Kor leaned back and looked off into the horizon as he pondered the question, "It's true that the sounds I listened to through my previous helmet lacked the crispness of being heard directly, but it was enough. I much prefer this new one, if for no other reason than the comfort of not having my ears pressed against my skull. On another note, however, I would have to say that my hearing is more that of a skill than an ability. One honed from years of tracking the skittering sound of moltokrabs through sound-distorting heat hazes, or by following the soft crunching of snow, made by crystal devils, through wailing ice storms."

Somewhere in Kaden's tired mind, a vivid landscape image was being painted, but his brain was running too slowly to process it. A single, deep yawn then squashed and blurred it, as he was reminded of his drowsiness.

Any further remnants of the image were disintegrated as the stirrings of several Kerchu being roused from their slumber reached his ears.

So, Kaden stood up and, together, he and Kor went to help their counterparts repack their gear and prepare for the day ahead.

* * *

The sun had almost risen completely over the horizon by the time the group was ready to set out again.

Kaden had already shown Siigih and Boogoh how to dismantle the Crust Piercer, but this time, he had ordered Kor to watch as well.

The task had been simple enough; taking something apart usually was when compared to putting it together.

He was reasonably confident that his 'students' could complete their task with little trouble, so they moved on.

Once all preparations were finalized, and all members of the team were gathered, Kaden was to address them about the day's itinerary.

But, the first thing he did was to announce the findings of last night's scan. This was important information as their mission would not end until they had fulfilled their quota of deposit locations for new drilling sites.

Yet, much to everyone's disappointment (except Boogoh's), the scans detected only trace amounts of gelatonium, which were buried nearly thirty miles deep. Not only was that too deep to be economically mined, but it was also so close to Sargasso's Mantle that the precious resource was likely to have shifted by the time Kerchu drills reached it. This meant that all the effort of yesterday's work was for naught.

After this disappointing news, Kaden next detailed the plan for the day.

The group would again split in two and follow the same route they had taken yesterday, reclaiming the Crust Piercers as they went, before meeting up at a land bridge that connected the landmass they were currently on to the next one.

From there, Kaden would reactivate the Kerchu's Piercers and the two groups would repeat the process of setting up the scanners on the new island.

It would likely be mid-day by the time all the scanners were operational. At that time, they would all regroup at the mountain cavern that they had discussed two chapters ago.

Once at the cave, they would clear it out, set up camp, and have lunch, though, not necessarily in that order.

By then, the geo-scan should be completed and they'd all set out to reclaim the Crust Piercers, before returning to the cave once more and settle in for the night.

Depending on how long that all took, however, Kaden held out hope that they could even set up the Piercers on the third island landmass before nightfall, saving them many hours of waiting for the scans to complete the following day.

With their plans set, the group divided once more into that of Kerchu and Lombax and headed their separate ways.

It was here, after the Kerchu were out of sight, that Kaden informed Kor that the two of them would be splitting up further.

Kaden had known from the start that there was no way he was going to walk to every site on foot and as fun as it was to make Kor run around after him on his hoverboots, it was very inefficient.

Kor would not need Kaden's help to dismantle the sites as the task was simple enough, so he ordered the armored Lombax to retrieve the first Crust Piercer and then proceed immediately to the land bridge where they would meet up with the Kerchu. During this time, Kaden himself would retrieve the other three on his hoverboots.

Though the tan Lombax was eager to begin asking the ocean of questions he'd prepared for Kor, the efficiency of the mission came first and they were on a tight schedule if they wanted to start on the third island before nightfall. They hadn't even had time for dialogue segments since the new day's preparations had begun, so such worldbuilding and plot drivers would have to wait until a more opportune moment.

This didn't bother Kaden, however, as he was still drowsy from this morning and wanted to be able to put his full attention into the knowledge he sought.

* * *

The reclamation process of the Crust Piercers had gone so smoothly and was so uneventful as to be decidedly un-novel-worthy.

And so, the two teams met up once more at the land bridge that connected them to the next island, before Kaden reactivated their scanners and they split up again.

As Kaden looked out over the hill-dotted horizon, carefully taking in the area, Kor readied himself to chase after the tan-furred Lombax the moment he took off on his hoverboots.

To the armored Lombax's surprise, however, no such thing happened. His new master simply put one foot in front of the other and began marching casually in the direction of the first site.

"You intend on walking?" asked Kor with genuine intrigue, as well as a mild sense of relief that he would never admit to.

Kaden was still shaking off his morning irritation, but he felt his mind was clear enough now as to be legitimately aggravated, "Yes, do you have a problem with that? Not that it matters," he growled in response.

Kor shook his head, "It is not a problem, I am just wondering why you are not using your firefe- hoverboots, like usual."

Kaden wore a smug look as he answered, "Do I 'need' a reason?" he asked rhetorically.

Kor was quiet for a bit before replying, "No, I suppose expecting a reason for your actions would be contrary," he noted, more to himself than Kaden.

There had been no tone of insult in Kor's voice, the young warrior had simply come to the genuine conclusion that the idea of Kaden having an actual reason for his actions was unthinkable.

This was all the more reason why words struck Kaden as if he'd been smacked in the back of the head, "Of course I have a good reason!" he retorted angrily.

As a person who prided himself on logic, being told he did something for 'no reason' was a cold insult.

"Unlike the last island, this one is covered in hills, rocky outcroppings, and dozens of crevices where vicious predators can hide. A few anthropods and a couple of Grubsnuckers was the worst we found so far, but Sargasso has much more in store for us. From now on, we can't risk splitting up. Besides, my hoverboots are pretty loud and they'll draw unwanted attention from things we could have easily avoided otherwise."

There was silence for a moment, "Oh… I see," replied Kor, surprised to hear the logic in the brazen Lombax's actions for once. "But, as you said, it does not matter. I will follow your commands regardless of how illogical they are."

Kaden's ears twitched at the insult being repeated, "Everything I do is for a logical reason," he stated flatly and Kor was surprised to hear no sign of humor in his tone.

This caused the armored servant to tilt his head curiously, "I may have to obey your orders, but I do not have to believe your lies," he replied informatively, as if to simply let his 'master' know.

"It's not a lie," growled Kaden as his irritation rose.

Kor shook his head in disbelief, "I have observed you carefully, as any enemy should, but I find no logic in any of your actions."

"My logic beat you in the depot," Kaden shot back, increasing his pace, though fully aware that Kor would have no trouble matching it. "If you could understand the logic behind what a genius does, then you too would be a genius."

Kor was unsurprised to hear his arrogant companion refer to himself as a genius, "The same could be said of a madman," he countered smoothly.

Kaden shrugged, "As I said, it's a fine line," he admitted.

This did not seem like a joke either.

The conversation ended here as they were almost at the first Piercer site.

Once there, Kaden began to unpack his equipment while Kor wandered off to scout the area.

* * *

As the two Lombaxes began walking toward their second location, Kaden suddenly turned to Kor and broke the silence, "You're sworn to serve me, right?" he asked pensively. "Then does that mean you'll honestly answer 'any' question I ask, no matter what it is?"

Kor nodded his head at the inquiry, "So long as it is not a secret I would die to keep."

Happy to hear this response, Kaden rubbed his chin inquisitively, "Then tell me, oh great Red Reaper of Nova… Are you really a Red Lombax?" he asked, having decided that the most mainstream question was a good one to address first.

While Varick had said as much about the mysterious newcomer before, the President of the Science Field's words were not something Kaden liked to rely on if he could help it.

There was a low growl from Kor's helmet speakers, "It's Crimson," he hissed cryptically.

"What is?" asked Kaden, oblivious to what he meant.

Kor shook his head, "The name is 'Crimson Reaper'. All of you Demari keep saying 'Red'. The term is 'Crimson'!"

"Um, no," countered Kaden self-assuredly, "I've played all of the games, including the crappy VSV spin-offs. It's definitely 'Red' Reaper."

Kor simply grumbled in response.

After a short silence, Kaden pressed again, "So, are you a Red Lombax or not?"

Kor was silent for a few more seconds, "I do not understand what you are asking," he eventually admitted.

Having to explain the question irritated Kaden, but he conceded that if Kor had asked him if he was 'Demari', he'd be confused too, "Um, let's see… Do you and your family have naturally red fur? As in, without having your genes twisted or dyed?"

Kor shrugged his metallic shoulders, "Most of the time," he answered, without much interest.

Kaden raised an eyebrow at the answer. It was cryptic, but so was Kor. It made sense to him that there were other fur colors than just red among the Red Lombaxes. It was likely that black was a common coat as well, but the point remained that some 'were' red furred.

As far as Kaden knew, there had never been a Lombax on Fastoon born with red fur, at least not without some form of artificial manipulation. The simple fact that some among Kor's family 'did' have such naturally red fur meant that he truly could be a fabled 'Red Lombax'.

This confirmation of the question on his mind made Kaden curious about something else, however, "Why do you think it's called 'Crimson Reapers' and not 'Red Reapers'?" he asked, bringing Kor's comment back up.

Kor turned to look at Kaden before facing forwards again, "Because it has always been 'Crimson Reapers'," he stated simply.

Kaden sighed, "Ok, what exactly are 'Crimson Reapers' to 'you', then?" he asked, wondering if the two of them were simply talking about different things altogether.

At the voicing of this question, Kor's masked face suddenly spun around once more to look straight at Kaden. It almost made the tan Lombax jump back in surprise.

"They were the greatest army of warriors ever assembled on Magnaron!" Kor declared proudly, ignoring Kaden's reaction. "At least that's what the Demari term for them was. They were a newly formed military corps for your 'Praetorian Guard', built from friends and foe alike, who had joined as one to fight the most worthy enemies in existence. They were the Crimson Reapers, the red tide of death, and the slayers of the Cragmites!"

At the mention of Cragmites, Kaden became distracted and tripped on a rough patch of dirt. To his surprise, he did not hit the ground, but instead was caught by Kor, who easily pulled him back up to his feet.

Kaden didn't thank his armored servant, but not because he was trying to be rude again.

Instead, his mind was lost in thought, "You mean your people actually 'did' fight in The Great War, just like the legends say?" he asked in mild amazement.

This was another piece of information that Varick had mentioned, but whenever Kaden tried to imagine it, he could only think of the old, unbelievable stories that spoke of red demons being released from Fastoon's core to protect its people. On second thought, however, Kaden realized that, in many ways, Kor did, in fact, fit the description of 'red demon'.

Upon hearing the mild awe in Kaden's voice, Kor puffed out his chest with pride, "On the day the Demari came, with their promises of a campaign worthy of the mightiest heroes, nearly every able-bodied warrior threw aside their squabbles and joined their ocean brothers in the Great War," he explained with his head tilted slightly upward as if he were daydreaming as he spoke. "The Demari had been true to their word. The Cragmites were such an excellent foe that the generation who had been too young to fight, and had missed out on such glory, were known as the Impubes Mori. At least, that is what the great Hero of The War had called them."

Kaden nodded as he tossed the new information around in his head for a while before asking his next question, "What did this 'hero' do to become so famous?" he asked, trying to picture what feats of courage and honor would make a society like Kor's consider a person to be above and beyond.

In the back of his thoughts, the description had also reminded him of his childhood hero, the Crimson Commander, and it made him wonder if it were possible that the 'fictional' Commander might actually be based on a real person.

Kor tilted his head slightly at Kaden, "Do?" he repeated in confusion. "He is the hero simply because he survived the greatest test of ability and skill in my people's history."

"And, what was this 'test' exactly?" Kaden pressed, still curious to hear of the warrior's deeds, but annoyed at never seeming to get a straight answer.

Kor shook his head, revealing his own frustration of Kaden's lack of understanding of what should be obvious, "The Great War, of course!"

As Kaden's mind processed this next bit of information, his steps began to slow, "What was this hero's name?" he asked absentmindedly, only half-paying attention as he continued to absorb this news.

Kor did not notice Kaden's change of pace as he continued to stare skyward while he answered, "He did not give one and, supposedly, there had been none among the Impubes Mori or their caretakers to have known him before he and the other warriors had left. When asked, he refused to give it, saying that it had died along with his brothers in the war and that he no longer needed it, so he was simply referred to as 'hero'.

"But, a Praetorian combat corps is made up of at least forty-thousand soldiers!" Kaden exclaimed as the magnitude of Kor's words finally hit him. "What percentage of Magnaron's population went to fight in the war?" Kor's island home was not very large and extremely inhospitable. Kaden couldn't imagine very many souls had dwelled there.

Kor scratched his armored head absently in thought, "I do not know, exactly. However, it's been said that, for every child left behind in the care of the few remaining 'Grand Mothers', there were ten warriors who marched off to meet the enemy Cragmite hordes. Even the sick and old, given new life with Demari medicines and technology, were granted a worthy and glorious death."

Kaden's heart rate was starting to climb and he felt his legs weighing him down so much that he finally stopped altogether.

Kor, at last, noticed that he'd overtaken his companion and stopped to turn around. He was curious as to why Kaden had ceased moving, as he saw no reason for it.

"Kor?" Kaden began again in a hushed voice, "What does 'Impubes Mori' mean?"

Kor stared at Kaden for a while as he contemplated his answer, "It is from an ancient Magnaronian language and I don't know the exact translation, but in Demari, it should mean… 'too young to die'."

* * *

Kaden was just about done with the second site now, but his mind was filled with debate.

He hadn't been able to ask Kor anything else after coming to the revelation that the Red Lombax people had almost been wiped out as fodder in the Great War. It had filled him with many curious and unwelcomed emotions which were taking a great deal of time and energy for him to sort through, or find his opinion on.

He had even called into question his dislike of Kor because of it. However, his animosity was quickly reaffirmed, as neither he nor Kor had been alive during the Great War, meaning that it had no direct correlation to their situation or relationship.

With a mild sigh of relief, Kaden confirmed to himself that he still hated Kor.

Just as the tan Lombax activated the second scanner, the armored Lombax himself appeared suddenly, surprising Kaden yet again with his stealth.

"There is something of interest over the next hill," Kor said suddenly without greeting.

Kaden simply nodded as he secretly tried to recapture his breath and slow his heartbeat.

The diligent warrior then led the way forward while he followed.

In silence, the two walked to the top of the next hill, where Kor stopped and looked out over the horizon.

They had reached the edge of their island now, where solid ground met murky swamp and what had caught Kor's attention was apparent right away.

Standing like a skyscraper, several hundred meters away from solid land, and knee deep in mud, was a troglosaur. A massive dinosaur-like creature that roamed Sargasso's surface without concern for most predators, as its size made it almost invulnerable.

"That 'is' interesting," Kaden noted, somewhat sarcastically.

Troglosaurs were harmless herbivores and the only way it could possibly pose a threat to anyone was if it stepped on them by accident.

"Could this creature cause any complications?" asked Kor, with evident concern. Clearly seeing a living creature of such size had startled even him a bit.

It was a strange, but welcomed sight for Kaden. He wasn't really paying attention to the question, though. Instead, he was slightly annoyed by what an irrelevant waste of concern this had been and was semi-ignoring his companion because of it. That was, until he began to study the surrounding area a little better.

The troglosaur had apparently waded its way through the swamp in order to eat the hanging plants off of a tiny island sitting alone in the expansive mire. The micro-island was composed mostly of a single tall rock pillar that was covered in leafy plants, of which the troglosaur was preoccupied with eating.

What interested Kaden, however, was the small plot of flat land that sat adjacent to the far end of the tall rock structure. There was also a large outcrop of boulders sticking up from the swamp right around the troglosaur's tail.

The final piece of the puzzle that Kaden needed was a smaller rock pillar that stood on the edge of their own landmass.

The sight of everything together made the tan Lombax grin, "Quite the opposite," he began answering finally, "this could be quite… useful."

* * *

"Explain it to me again," Kor demanded as he followed the mad Lombax to the border of where solid ground gave way to swamp.

Waiting at their destination was a tall pillar of rock that stretched at least a hundred yards into the sky.

Kaden sighed, "Like I already explained, we are going to blast this stone pillar here so that it falls away from us, making a bridge over to that small outcropping of boulders there. Then we're going to hop across them until we get within range of the troglosaur's tail. Once we get on that, we can then climb up onto its back, hop onto its head, scale that 'other' rocky pillar, and then I'll place a Crust Piercer on that small piece of land at the bottom."

Kor watched as Kaden dug through his supplies to find his explosives, his mind spinning, "And, why are placing a Crust Piercer there?" he continued.

Kaden pulled a small rectangular object with a circular device in its center from his bag, "Because, if I can get a Piercer all the way out there, then I can get a much better picture of the swamp area. I hadn't planned on scanning that area for this mission because I thought we couldn't, but with the troglosaur standing there, it's the perfect opportunity that we need to reach that islet. With an extra scanner that far out, we can add a huge range of land to our search radius for the price of just one Piercer and that means a better chance of fulfilling our quota faster."

Placing the rectangular object on the pillar, Kaden began typing the arming code into the circular console for the det-charge. After the code was accepted, the metallic lock around it hissed and came off.

From there, Kaden pulled the rectangle apart, revealing it to actually be a series of smaller squares. Each one was a small, self-contained explosive attached by a thin wire to the central detonation device. Kaden used his experienced eye to place the tiny explosives around the pillar so that he could control the direction of its fall.

"You're beginning to lean over to the madman's side of that line again," pressed Kor. "Your plan is to jump on that things head? That's insanity!"

Kaden grumbled at Kor's ignorance, but brushed it off, "Don't worry, you big baby, troglosaurs are so massive and invulnerable that they could care less if something as small as us takes a stroll on their head. We'll be fine… Any other cowardly questions?" he asked mockingly as he stood up from his completed work.

He didn't like having to explain every little detail of his plan, but he did like the feeling of superiority and control over Kor that it gave him.

Kor just shook his head, having resigned himself to follow whatever his crazy master ordered, while also secretly upset at being called cowardly.

They then moved back to the other side of the hill before Kaden used his NID to detonate the explosives.

A ground shaking boom rocked the soil beneath their feet as the base of the pillar was shattered in a roar of fire and dust, causing the tower of stone to fall out across the liquid swamp and land with a splash.

Kaden didn't even wait for the dust to clear before he was crossing the newly formed bridge and Kor quickly fell in line behind him and the two began the journey toward the tiny island.

As they hopped from rock to rock, Kaden had found that he'd finally recovered from the shock of Kor's last revelation and was now ready for more answers, "The Red Lombax people were great heroes who played a huge role in winning the Great War," he reiterated, giving himself time to set up a line of questioning that wasn't yet straight in his head, "So, why was that all covered up? I mean, the Grand Elder Council would have surely given your people anything they asked to repay their service."

Kor leaped from one rock to the other, keeping a close eye on Kaden the whole time, more concerned for his master than himself, "After the war, my people made the Hero chieftain of all the newly-united clans. Fearing the possibility of another galactic war or of being attacked by outsiders in their weakened state, the Hero made the decision to hide from the Demari, and the rest of the galaxy, in order to allow his people to regain their strength. While I personally see this as a choice of cowardice, I understand the reasoning. You are correct in your assumption, Kaden: the Demari leaders offered our people anything we wanted as repayment... my ancestors asked to be forgotten."

Kaden was coming up on the final boulder, which sat a jump's length from the swinging troglosaur tail, "So what, after years and years of concealment, your people finally decided it was time to come out of hiding?"

Kor shook his head, but it was to himself reflexively, as Kaden wasn't looking at him and could not see it, "No," he answered with a subtle tone of disapproval in his metallic voice, "even now the majority of my people wish to remain disconnected from the outside world. While the elders know better than to repeat the events of another 'Great War' themselves, they also know that there would be no stopping the young warriors of Magnaron from joining such a glorious battle, should the opportunity arise. Their only option is to keep the outside world... outside."

"But the Cragmites nearly destroyed the galaxy," countered Kaden, as he landed on the final rock and waited for Kor to catch up, "It's possible that the war was only won thanks to your people's aid. What if Fastoon itself had become overrun?"

Kor landed next to Kaden smoothly and stared up in awe at the mammoth troglosaur that now stood before him, answering distractedly only after taking it in, "My home is a desolate land that kills all unfamiliar to it without mercy," he pointed out. "No transmission signal can escape the island or the nearby sea, so as long as no trespassers survive to tell the tale, no one will know of my people. If the Demari remain true to their word, then even if your civilization falls and your cities are left broken, barren, and devoid of life, my people would be left untouched."

Even though Kaden had been the one to use Fastoon's hypothetical defeat as an example in the first place, he still took offense to Kor's casual reference to the destruction of his people, "You think that we would ever be defeated?" he demanded indignantly.

Kor nodded simply, "Your people almost fell once during the Great War. It is not, as you said, 'possible', but it is 'without doubt' that my people were key to the war's outcome. If such events could have happened once, they could happen again. Even if this world falls, even if every single Demari Lombax were removed from its surface by some invading force, my people would remain, hidden from all who did not know to look for us."

Kaden considered Kor's words as objectively as he could. At the very least, his armored companion had a point. The interference radiation made locating Magnaron by anything other than prior knowledge, or a complete accident, nearly impossible. Even if an invading army somehow removed the Lombax people from their homeworld and occupied Fastoon, as impossible as that seemed, Magnaron 'would' likely remain untouched.

Besides, even if enemies did go there looking for them, it was likely that the Magnaron natives could hide amongst their environment until it had taken its toll on their attackers, then defeat them with the same skill and ferocity that Kor regularly demonstrated.

It was an interesting piece of information, Kaden mused, but it was only worth anything if he needed a place to hide should his entire world end.

For now, though, he just needed to focus on the troglosaur's tail as it swung back and forth in front of him.

Kaden closely studied the massive limb for well over a minute, trying to get the rhythm down. Once he had gauged the timing as best he could, he waited for the perfect moment and then jumped forward, landing cleanly on a large, flat part of the creature's tail.

Kor repeated Kaden's actions and the two of them quickly scaled the beast's back.

The armored Lombax was hesitant as they moved along the top of the troglosaur, but Kaden was unfazed and acted as casually as if he were on solid ground.

Just as he'd said, the troglosaur didn't seem to even notice their presence. It didn't even twitch when the two of them landed on its head. It simply kept on chomping on the high perched flora like nothing important was going on.

From this point on, Kaden and Kor had to scale the jagged rock edifice. While the flat piece of dirt that was their goal was at sea level, they would need to climb up and over the rock pillar to reach it.

It was treacherous going as well, forcing Kaden to focus on his task, rather than continue his questioning.

On several occasions during their climb, the two Lombaxes came to a point where the next ledge would be too high for even their agile race to reach easily.

In these cases, the two would work together. One Lombax would become a boost platform for the other to push off of and reach the next ledge. That Lombax would then turn around and catch their partner's hand as they jumped, before pulling them up as well.

Despite the seemingly good teamwork being done, Kaden only thoughts were of how he could have simply used his Swingshot's grapple to reach the column's top in seconds. He only went up the hard way for Kor's sake.

Several times, while it was Kaden's turn to pull Kor up onto the next ledge, the idea of simply dropping the armored Lombax crossed his mind.

Though, this was more of a passing thought based on opportunity, rather than one of actual consideration.

The same was true for the idea of simply pushing Kor off the edifice that came to him, as the two of them slid along a rock ledge with their chests pressed against the stone.

Kaden had no real intention of doing that either, but the strangely calming images of Kor falling through the air kept him in good spirits.

However, the daydreaming of his antagonist's demise also left him distracted as he approached a large crevice in the rock wall just big enough to be considered a cave,

Because of this, he missed the fact that there was already something living within it.

The loud, territorial screech of a massive dinosaur-bird shook the air and immediately brought Kaden's focus back to reality, just in time for him to dive forward and avoid the creature's snapping jaws.

In fact, the shallow hole in the side of the rock wasn't a natural cave at all, but was actually a nest, dug out by a mother pterodactyl preparing to lay her eggs.

There was almost no room for Kaden to maneuver in the tiny, dug-out hollow and sharing it with an animal that had a wingspan capable of encompassing it in its entirety was not an optimal situation.

The bird's angry screeches echoed throughout the rocky concavity as the tiny Lombax desperately shifted and dodged flapping wings and thrashing claws.

Frustrated with its slippery intruder, the massive pterodactyl stepped forward, using its wings to block off the rear of the cave as it slowly started to push forward.

This move cut off Kaden's ability to retreat deeper into it, forcing him to stay in front of the creature, where its beak and claws could more easily locate him. If nothing else, the strategy would eventually lead to him being forced out of the small room and then straight over the edge.

Seeing the danger in the situation, Kaden took his chances and dove once more, just managing to grab hold of the creature's talon tipped leg, before another snap of jaws closed around the air he'd previously just been inhabiting.

With a simple thought, Kaden activated the electric nodes on his gloves and poured electricity into the pterodactyl.

The flapping bird screeched again, but this time the roar was filled with pain as its wings flapped furiously in unnatural spasms.

But the creature refused to drop, even as Kaden continued to pour electricity into it, until the backlash from the attack caused the power cell that fueled it to overload and its Scram failsafe to initiate. The electrical attack had stopped… but the bird had not.

Slowly, Kaden raised his head and looked up into the rage-filled eyes of the pterodactyl, whose body was too big and whose skin too thick to succumb to his lighting gauntlet attack.

The next few actions happened so fast that they appeared to have been executed simultaneously.

The first action was made by the pterodactyl. It stabbed its sharp beak straight down towards Kaden in an effort to skewer the intruder with one devastating blow.

The next action was made by Kaden and was a preemption of what he expected the bird's next move to be, rather than a reaction to having seen it coming.

The cornered Lombax had fallen purposefully onto his back before putting his hands up in front of him for protection.

This wasn't a reflexive move of self-defense, however. Kaden still had two power cells that ran the rest of his suit's system and his repulsors were still fully charged. All he had to do was wait for the pterodactyl to get close enough and he could blast it back with the full force of its fields.

The final action was made by Kor, whose red and green armor flashed into existence, seemingly from thin air.

The Lombax warrior slammed into the side of the pterodactyl's head and quickly wrapped his arms around its neck, stopping its beak just short of making contact with Kaden.

The tan Lombax then looked up in confusion at the scene that played out before him. He had already predicted what was going to happen and had already decided how he'd handle it. The sudden save from his hated enemy was very off-putting and it left him dumbfounded.

"Don't just lie there!" shouted Kor toward the immobile lump of fur at his feet. "Move!"

Shaken into action, Kaden quickly rolled clear of the pterodactyl and made his way out of the cave-nest.

Once outside again, the first thing he did was to get his bearings on the rock column that they'd been climbing. Just below him and a little further ahead was an open ledge that looked stable enough to support him, even if he had to jump onto it.

After noting several other possibly useful features, Kaden then turned back toward the cave just in time to watch Kor get thrown off of the pterodactyl and slammed into the cave wall.

The massive bird screeched in victory and clawed at its new prey with one set of its sharp talons.

Seeing the opening, Kaden pointed his forearm at Kor and fired his Swingshot.

The magnetically propelled grapple struck the armored Lombax on the side of his abdomen and latched itself onto his metal shell with its microgrip polymer.

Kor was distracted momentarily by the sudden impact, which at first had looked like a sneak attack by a traitor.

Because of this, he lost his focus on the attacking pterodactyl.

This proved unimportant, however, as just before the creature struck, Kaden pulled with all his strength, yanking Kor clear out of the cave and out into the open air.

Next, Kaden braced himself as Kor's momentum brought him over the side of the cave ledge. He fell several meters down the stone column's side, before catching on the end of the Swingshot line, and being swung over to the open ledge that Kaden had seen a short distance below.

Kor quickly figured out what was happening and landed skillfully on his feet.

Once the line went slack, Kaden sent the release signal through his Swingshot tether, de-gripping the microgrip polymer, and reeling it back in.

The two Lombaxes then shared a brief look of understanding that both had helped the other.

A moment later, the angry screeching of the pterodactyl boomed forth from the cave mouth, reverberating off the walls like an amplifier.

"Get to the plateau," ordered Kaden with a nod toward their objective.

No sooner had Kor returned the nod of acknowledgment, than the pterodactyl burst out of its nest and launched itself out into the open air.

The two Lombaxes took off at speed, moving over the treacherous rockways as fast as they dared, while the bird circled back through the sky and came for them again.

_'Of course,'_  thought Kaden as he watched the eyes of the pterodactyl make contact with his. A moment later the rest of its body made a beeline for his position.

Knowing that the bird was now his opponent, Kaden stopped and turned to face it.

After judging its range and speed, he then launched a single Fastball at the flying creature, but it was evaded with surprising ease.

He had missed the shot but it didn't discourage him, since the blast had at least fulfilled its secondary objective and made the pterodactyl change its trajectory.

Having been thrown off its original course, the large bird was unable to redirect itself in time as Kaden jumped away from the rock pillar while simultaneously firing his Swingshot.

The crafty Lombax managed to swing his way onto another ledge a few meters below him and was now much closer to his goal. If he could just get to that open plateau on the ground, he could more easily dodge the bird and mount a defense. In the time it would take the pterodactyl to come around for a second swipe, he would have time to charge up a full Nuclear Fist.

Unfortunately, this hope began to fade when the large predatory bird screeched with even greater rage and determination as it dug its talons into the rock, allowing it to recover from its first attack much faster than Kaden had predicted.

Kaden prepared to jump again, but there were no other wide ledges in view that he could reach.

At this point, his only hope was to swingshot around the stone column and make a straight attempt for the plateau itself, using his hoverboots to slow his descent.

While this would leave him open to attack while he floated down slowly. He would just have to time it as best he could and hope that the large bird couldn't make it back in time to pluck him from the sky like an insect.

It would be a close shave as, even if everything went perfectly, Kaden knew that he couldn't make it to the plateau from here, but he just might be able to get close enough that he could land in the swamp and swim the rest of the way.

Shallow as the swamp may or may not be, its tar and mud composition would likely pull him down quickly. He estimated that he could get maybe three good strokes before he drowned in the muck. All that was left to do now was to figure out how far those strokes would take him.

This plan never came to pass, however.

The moment before Kaden was going to jump, a massive wrench sailed into the fray from above and slammed into the side of the pterodactyl's head, knocking the bird out of the sky, before being reeled back up to its owner.

Somehow, Kor had managed to get up higher than Kaden in order to execute his next attack. A small part of the tan Lombax's mind reluctantly admitted that this feat was quite impressive.

The pterodactyl refused to give up, however, managing to stop itself from crashing into the mire below and furiously flapping its wings to regain altitude.

It had changed targets as well. This time its eyes saw nothing but red... with a tinge of green.

While a small part of Kaden's mind viewed this as a golden opportunity to make it to the plateau and leave Kor to deal with their attacker, the majority of him knew that, since Kor lacked a Swingshot, his movement options were much more limited.

Even with his impressive skills, Kor was little more than a sitting duck for a much larger duck… one that had talons and a sharp beak. While a portion of Kaden's mind insisted that this was actually a favorable outcome, the rest of his consciousness knew that he could not just leave Kor to die here… there were still more questions that needed to be answered.

Kor, on the other hand, unaware of Kaden's scheming, saw defeating the pterodactyl as a way to repay some of his life debt. He knew that his positioning was terrible and that he was open to attack, but he compensated for this by burying his wrench into the rock face behind him.

He then used his winch tether like a climbing line, lowering himself down to its full extent, and giving him the ability to maneuver along the rock wall as if he were on the ground.

The pterodactyl dove at him, talons bared menacingly, but Kor was now nimble enough dodge the attack.

The pterodactyl slammed its feet into the rock where Kor had been, but before it could follow up with another attack, the armored Lombax slit a deep gash across its leg with his Vibro-knife.

The massive bird screeched in agony as blood oozed profusely from the cut.

Seeing the threat Kor posed, the pterodactyl flapped hard and returned to the sky, still screeching angrily and afraid to approach again, but unwilling to give up just yet.

It circled back around again and dove for a second time.

Once more Kor dodged the attack and this time he managed to slice a long line through one of the creature's wings.

The cut wasn't enough to eliminate the beast's flight altogether, but it did make staying aloft much harder, as air escaped through the rent with every flap of its wings. This slowed down the pterodactyl greatly and inside of his helmet, Kor grinned with pride.

' _One or two more attacks like this one and the bird would certainly be dead,'_  Kor thought excitedly.

Even if the pterodactyl chose to cut its losses and escape now, he would still consider it a victory, making him one step closer to regaining his tail.

This delightful thought was then completely washed away when Kor realized that he'd underestimated the pterodactyl's intelligence.

Having recognized the futility of direct attacks, the large bird had circled around again, but this time it went after Kor's winch line instead.

Kor saw what was coming and he just barely managed to drive his Vibro-knife, blade-side up, into the rock, before the pterodactyl severed his safety line with a swift fly-by of its talons.

The knife had done its job and Kor was held in place, but he was suddenly acutely aware that his desperate gambit had left him with nowhere to go.

As the pterodactyl circled around yet again, Kor racked his mind for a solution. He didn't think he could survive the fall into the swamp, even if he could survive the impact, and there was nowhere else he could jump to.

There was a ledge nearby, but in the time it'd take him to scale over to it, the pterodactyl would surely skewer him.

The only option that he could see was for him to try and jump onto the pterodactyl itself, after it came in for its final attack. The chance was a slim one, but it was all he had.

Kor eyed the massive bird as it seemed to revel in its victory with a gleeful screech, before flying up high above its prey. It then dove almost straight down at him.

From the angle with which it was attacking now, Kor's chances of jumping onto it were even less than he'd first thought, but his eyes never blinked as he calmly waited for his chance.

An ear-rattling boom shook the air and the image of the pterodactyl was suddenly engulfed in bright orange flame that would have blinded Kor had his helmet's filters not activated.

Kor spun his head around and quickly found Kaden's smiling face looking up at him from a lower ledge, his still smoking palm pointed at where the pterodactyl had exploded.

However, Kor's first thought was not of relief at having been saved, but was instead full of anger that he might have to add another life debt onto his tab.

This thought was then brushed aside as another loud screech erupted from what was now a cloud of black smoke.

Unable to fly, but still trying to gain control of its fall, a horribly burned and blackened Sargasian Pterodactyl emerged from the black fog, flapping like mad as it rapidly fell toward the swamp.

Using what small amount of flight-control its horribly tattered wings had left, the bird desperately tried to direct its trajectory toward the tan Lombax that had finally brought it down.

Kaden was so surprised that the thing had survived his attack, that he barely had time to put up his repulsor fields before it crashed into him.

The shields did their job, stopping the flaming creature from making contact with him, but the force of the impact overwhelmed the ledge that he had been standing on.

The rocky floor shattered like glass beneath Kaden's feet and, a second later, he found himself falling through the air with no way of stopping.

His repulsor field was the only thing keeping the thrashing pterodactyl from tearing him to shreds, but it was the one on his swingshot arm, meaning that to use it, he'd have to lower the shield.

Kaden reached up instinctively for something to grab, despite knowing that there was nothing to be found.

This knowledge, however, made him even more surprised when he suddenly felt his hand catch on something and a sharp tug of pain explode in his shoulder.

After blinking several times at the image of a roasted bird sinking into the swampy muck beneath him, Kaden raised his head back up to find Kor holding firmly onto his hand from a small ledge, barely big enough to hold him, the metal fingers of his other hand dug powerfully into the rock like tiny anchors.

"Are you injured?" the armored Lombax asked as he pulled Kaden up onto the stable ledge.

Kaden heaved hard in a desperate attempt to breathe as he came down from the adrenaline rush that the fall had caused to flood his veins, "Yeah… I'm fine… Nice catch," he added, in what sounded dangerously close to gratitude.

Kor offered Kaden a small bow, "No words of thanks are necessary, this is my duty," he assured his master happily. "This life repaid is more than enough."

"Huh?" intoned Kaden curiously, suddenly losing his sense of gratitude, "What do you mean 'repaid'?"

Kor tilted his head as he regarded his companion, "I saved your life from that fall just now. A fall that was the end result of your actions. A life saved warrants a life repaid."

"No, no, no… no," rejected Kaden, unhappy to see half his slave-debt vanish so quickly, especially the part about admitting that his own life had been saved by Kor. "First of all, we are not that high up and the ground below is made up of soft swamp. Saved me from some broken bones or a concussion maybe, but you definitely didn't save my life. Besides, the plateau is right there. Not only did you 'not' save my life, but the truth is, I was about to hoverboot over to the landing from here anyway, so in fact, it was as much a hindrance as a help."

Kaden knew that this was only half true. While he would be capable of making it to the plateau from here, he likely would never have been able to pull it off with a burning pterodactyl on top of him. That's not even factoring in the time delay it would have taken him to assess his situation and plan out his maneuver. But Kor didn't need to know that.

There was no reaction from the armored warrior as his expressionless metal face stared silently at the Lombax that he had 'not' just saved. Kaden did not break his arrogant expression of superiority either, despite the clear tension in the air.

But when Kor finally spoke, his metallic tone seemed almost jovial, "I see," said the armored Lombax in a static-riddled voice that seemed to be happy to resolve a misunderstanding. "Then I apologize for interfering," he said with no signs of dissatisfaction at all.

Having assumed that Kor would be upset by his refusal to acknowledge his rescue, Kaden was caught off-guard by this unexpected turn of events. It distracted the tan Lombax so much so that he hadn't even noticed the armored hand that had been placed on his chest.

By the time Kaden finally realized it was there, he'd only had time to say, "What are y- Wai-!" before Kor shoved hard and launched Kaden clear off of the cliff edge.

* * *

Kaden pulled another large, tar-soaked weed from his gauntlet, "You're supposed to insert the rods at the 'exact' angle that the projection shows, you muscle-brained meathead," spat the irritated, mud-drenched, previously tan-furred Lombax.

Kor was currently in the middle of assembling the latest Crust Piercer while Kaden picked muck from his armor, pausing only to yell instructions mixed with insults at him along the way.

In retrospect, pushing his master off the side of a cliff definitely did not help Kor repay his debt, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to regret the action.

In fact, he felt more satisfied with his choice each and every time his now brown-furred commander reminded him of his shoddy craftsmanship or his inability to comprehend how the device even worked. Each insult was like sweet music to his ears.

Kaden sighed as he watched Kor correct his mistake without comment and continued working obediently.

His armor's systems were flooded with grime and he would need to do a proper cleaning later, but for now, his priority was to ensure that no foreign material was interfering with any of his equipment.

As he cleaned each piece, he would grow more irritated with every heap of mud that he scraped off or out of his armor. This frustration would eventually boil out the moment Kor made another mistake and result in his pointing out of the error along with Kor's technical incompetence.

"So what are the rules to this whole debt thing again?" Kaden eventually asked when he was sure that his gauntlets had been cleared enough for operation and he had calmed down slightly.

Kor was almost through installing the scanner's rods and was surprised to hear a calm question instead of another angry insult, "The debt is a matter of honor. I do not expect you to admit it willingly, but when I feel that I have repaid my life to you, then I will stop serving. It is that simple."

Kaden thought about the answer, "And how does pushing me off a cliff help repay that debt?" he questioned further.

Kor shrugged and smiled inside his mask, "Admittedly, it does not, but your intentions were unclear in your wording and… I was curious to see if you were bluffing about your chances of survival."

Despite his anger, Kaden held back from doing something petty, like ordering Kor to go jump in the swamp as well, by the fact that he 'had' said that being stopped mid-fall was a hindrance.

It was a simple matter of interpretation, but Kaden had been exploiting such things since he was a child, so he didn't really have the right to complain. There was also the minor fact that Kor 'had' saved him from falling down the cliff... the first time at least.

Eventually, when he was tired of being mad, Kaden just shrugged it off and moved on, he was more interested in further shrinking his list of unanswered questions anyway, "So, if your people are so set on remaining hidden from the rest of the galaxy, why did you come to Nova?"

There was a clang of metal as Kor accidentally smacked one rod against another, "That…" he began hesitantly, "Well, that is a matter of one seeking to improve their skills. Nova Academy has always been suggested by the Demari diplomats who've kept contact with Magnaron as a way for our two people to reconnect should we ever desire it. Above that, however, they had promised that the best young warriors of the entire Demari world would be assembled there to train and test their abilities. I eventually accepted the offer in hopes of improving myself and testing my mettle against theirs."

Kaden rubbed his chin, and was annoyed by the wet, squishy feeling it created, "But, why only you? All these years your people remained hidden and even now it doesn't sound like they're keen on becoming good neighbors, so why are you the first to leave?"

Kor placed the final rod in the ground and activated the Crust Piercer, "It became necessary," he admitted reluctantly. "Much of the reason my people continue to isolate themselves is because of how little we know about you Demari. Despite my father's opposition, the elder council of my people decided that I could no longer grow as a warrior on Magnaron... and so, in hopes of furthering my training as well as bringing back knowledge about another world, they sent me to Nova."

Kaden nodded and was satisfied with the answer for the most part. He still felt that Kor was hiding something about the exact reasoning for his transfer, but he also felt that it was most likely a personal matter and that was almost guaranteed to be extremely uninteresting, unimportant, and not worth the effort to pry it out of him.

The mostly mud-covered Lombax then stood up, flicked a few remaining drops of muck from himself with a long shake of his fur, and began heading back toward the rock pillar.

This detour had ended up taking longer than he'd anticipated and they were in danger of running late on their scanner laying schedule. They needed to hurry now because he didn't want to keep the Kerchu waiting.

It was fine though, with his questions finally being answered this story was, at last, coming to a close.

But, there was still plenty of time left. This tale was not over yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VSV - is a form of gaming device, like a PSP. The crappy spin-offs of the Red Reaper series that were mentioned was a reference to the PSP Ratchet and Clank games, Size Matters and Secret Agent Clank.
> 
> Impubes Mori - is Latin and literally translates to 'too young to die.'
> 
> Three Strike Rule - Kaden's calculation about only getting three strokes in the swamp muck before sinking is a reference to any Ratchet and Clank game when Ratchet gets stuck in some kind of swamp. The player usually gets three good chances to jump out of the muck, before they sink and die.
> 
> SCRAM - in some nuclear fission reactors, a 'scram' is a way of shutting down a nuclear reaction by jamming negatively reactive material into it. There is some debate about what the term actually meant originally, though. Some say it means 'scram' as in English slang for 'get the heck out of here', while the more standard definition is that it stands for Safety Control Rod Activation Mechanism (among others).


	8. A Tale of Two Lombaxes, Part 2

Thanks to Kaden's hatred of being late, he and Kor practically ran through the two remaining sites they had needed to set up, before eventually arriving at the cave ahead of schedule.

"I guess we wait?" asked Kor as the two found a spot with a view of the cave, but at a safe distance should anything dangerous be inside.

Kaden was happy with their timing, but he was still looking to the future. His plan was to make this cave their home for the night and he intended to do that even if an entire family of Grunthors were living inside.

They still had several hours before the Crust Piercers completed their scans, but depending on what was waiting for them inside the cave, it may take the better part of the day to clear it.

"I'd prefer not to waste time," noted Kaden as much to himself as to Kor.

Kor hefted his malleus wrench, "Then, shall we get started?"

Kaden considered the proposition, as well as tried to ignore how well Kor’s eager attitude towards clearing out the cave meshed with his, "A few Anthropods we could handle. A nest of Grubsnuckers would be a bit troublesome. A Grunthor or two and I'd have to lure them out or risk caving the place in with the attack it would take to bring them down. A combination of any of those would need more than just the two of us to guarantee a safe cave-cleaning."

Kor wasn't sure that he was following along with Kaden's verbal line of thought, but he put down his wrench as it seemed they weren't going to attack after all, "So we wait for backup."

Kaden rubbed his chin as he played out various scenarios, "Though... the chances that we ‘can't’ handle whatever’s inside there are on the low side. Besides, Reegeh didn't seem too keen on going near the thing at all. I'm not even sure he'll help when he gets here, especially after 'somebody' said they'd handle the problem by themselves," he added as a slight jab.

Kor sighed and hefted his wrench again, "Then we proceed."

Kaden stared hard at the cave, "Well, there is still the chance something big is in there. After all, Reegeh nearly wet his fur and he's a local, so maybe he knows something that the records don't. I really don't feel like dying just yet… that would be like letting Tor'doran win."

Kor did not reply this time, he simply stood there, motionless.

Ultimately, Kaden realized that the deciding factor as to whether they would go forward alone or not was how long before their Kerchu companions would arrive.

Kaden activated his radio through his NID and after a few hails, Siigih eventually picked up, "This is Siigih," the Kerchu answered.

"Siigih, this is Kaden. We've arrived at the cave entrance and were debating whether to go in or not. What is your current position?"

"We are approaching the cave now from the east," replied Siigih's voice. "We will arrive in approximately five minutes."

"Understood," acknowledged Kaden before he cut the radio signal. He stared out over the horizon toward the east for roughly five seconds before he became impatient, "Kor, scout out the cave entrance and see if you can get an idea of what we'll find inside, but don't push it. At the first sign of trouble, back out and wait for reinforcements. I'm going to go meet the Kerchu. I'll figure out their commitment on the way over," he ordered, the goal of saving time foremost on his mind.

Without waiting for confirmation, Kaden jogged off toward the direction that the Kerchu should be coming from, leaving Kor to scout out the cave on his own. 

Despite his dislike for the armored Lombax, Kaden’s decision to make Kor approach the potentially dangerous cave by himself was not based on those feelings. He knew first hand at how stealthy Kor was and did not doubt for a moment that his counterpart wouldn't be caught unawares… unless, of course, the mysterious Lombax pulled a similar move to the one he had against the Anthropods the previous day.

By the time Kaden crested the hill and found the Kerchu group, he'd finalized his decision that if Kor chose to pull another reckless move again, despite being told not to, it'd be his own fault and there would be no guilt to feel.

Boogoh and Siigih greeted their Lombax counterpart cheerfully as he approached, but Reegeh was clearly still unhappy about the plan, "Well, you ran all the way out here to meet us, so are you too scared to go into the demon's den, or have you already done so and that's why your fanged companion is not with you?" the largest Kerchu asked with barely concealed dissatisfaction.

Kaden got the feeling that he'd already found out the Kerchus' level of commitment in the first few seconds, but he pressed on regardless, "No Reegeh, Kor is just scouting the entrance now. I figured I'd save a few minutes and see if you guys wanted to help with the mission or not."

Reegeh snarled at the challenge, but Siigih stepped in, "I cannot condone risking ours and young Boogoh's lives to fight something like a Grunthor, but if the cave is filled with a small number of Anthropods, I'd be happy to assist you."

Kaden raised an eyebrow as he noted that Siigih said 'I', "Just you? What about Reegeh, he's supposed to be the more 'warrior-ish', right?"

Reegeh squinted angrily at Kaden, but Siigih just nodded and smiled, "Reegeh has mentioned that his only priority is with protecting the young master here. Neither of us are willing to let him into the cave before it's been extensively cleared of any dangers-"

"I can fight," interrupted Boogoh, "I've been trained to use a roller too," he added before hefting the large metal wing-like backpack he wore for emphasis.

Reegeh took a firm hold of Boogoh's shoulder and shook his head, making it clear that it was not going to happen.

Siigih cleared his throat and continued, "As I was saying, Reegeh here is unwilling to leave his charge unattended, so I will be your only support should you require it."

Kaden shrugged and thanked Siigih before heading back toward the cave, "I'm glad at least two of you aren't afraid of a little cave."

* * *

Siigih and Kaden both stood at the mouth of the cave while Reegeh and Boogoh sat cautiously at the safe spot the Lombaxes had found earlier. 

Kaden looked around the area and waved a few times, but Kor was nowhere to be seen.

"He must have gone in," Kaden noted to Siigih before he turned on his radio. "Kor, this is Kaden, you there? Come in, Kor." 

There was no response.

After several more attempts to contact the fifth member of the party, Siigih spoke up, "Perhaps the cave is interfering with the radio?" he suggested helpfully.

Kaden nodded at the possibility, but he and Kor both had Lombax-built radios and at this distance their signals should be able to penetrate almost anything, "I guess we'll just have to go look for him," he said, assuming that the mountain must have been made of a denser material than he’d thought.

The tan Lombax then stepped over the threshold of the cave entrance, releasing a floating spotlight drone as he did. He also demagnetized his Omniwrench and hefted it, ready for combat. He would be risking a massive cave-in if he used his nuclear-based weaponry inside, so it was wrench only for the time being.

* * *

After nearly ten minutes of walking, which amounted to barely a few hundred meters at the pace they were moving, the team of one Kerchu and one Lombax came to a fork.

Here the cave split off into several smaller tunnels. Kaden knew that one must lead out to the other side of the mountain, as satellite scans said an entrance sat on the opposite side of the mountain as well, but as for which one it was, he could only guess. 

Regardless, Siigih and Reegeh would not allow Boogoh in here until they were sure that there was no more danger in any tunnel.

With a shared, silent nod of understanding, the two cave explores decided to take the largest tunnel and proceeded forward. 

Along the way, they came across several more forking tunnels and had to make a choice each time. Every step they took, Kaden drew a digital map of the cave system, using his drone to scan and record their location and movements, before combining the information with his NID. 

They even came around a full circle once, having gone down one tunnel that came around and connected to one of the forked paths they had not chosen.

They continued like this for a while, searching the tunnels and wondering where Kor might be.

* * *

Roughly forty minutes had passed before Kaden and Siigih finally came across the first signs of life… kind of. 

What they had found was actually the empty shell of an Anthropod, but it was not the fossilized remains of a creature who had died naturally, or a molted exoskeleton. The shell was empty because the rest of the Anthropod, what was left of it anyway, had been scattered around the tunnel.

Siigih leaned down to examine the remains, "The meat is gone," he noted with both interest and concern.

"What does that mean?" Kaden questioned curiously.

Siigih picked through the scraps of meat and chitin that were strewn across the floor, "As I've said before, when one hunts Anthropods, most of their organs are toxic and inedible. That's why most other creatures on Sargasso don't bother to eat them. This little  _ (Translation Not Found) _ , however, was dissected by something. Something that's smart enough to kill it without rupturing its toxic organs. It must also be in possession of claws or teeth sharp and precise enough to remove the bad bits."

Kaden studied the remains carefully as well, "So, Anthropods have a natural predator?" he questioned.

Siigih shook his head, "Not that I know of, though it's not unheard of for undocumented predators to pop up on Sargasso, very little of the planet is inhabited and properly researched after all. Most scientists are too afraid of the dangers to extensively study here and most nature enthusiasts don't live long enough to report their discoveries. The only creatures I've heard of that could do this were some breeds of raptor, but they are only indigenous to the jungles of the western hemisphere. I would say whatever calls this place home is new to eating Anthropod though, look here," Siigih pointed out several pieces of meat lying around. "All of those bits are toxic by most standards, but they all have tiny bites taken out of them. It's almost as if something was taste-testing them."

Kaden scratched his head, "So whatever it is, it only wants the prime cuts of its prey?" he asked jokingly.

Siigih nodded in a serious way, not seeing the joke, "Something like that. Both the flanks and hearts are gone, but that's not all. The liver and both of its  _ (Translation Inappropriate) _ are missing. They're fairly toxic as well, though probably the least so by comparison to everything else.”

Kaden rubbed his chin, "Well, let's just hope that whatever it is, we can handle it."

Siigih stood up eyed the cave warily, “I don’t like when beasts show signs of intelligence,” he noted, as much to himself as to Kaden. “You begin to question if they’re smart enough to hide in the many shadows of a cave, waiting for the perfect time to strike.”

Kaden gulped reflexively as he looked around the twisted and crevice filled cave with new eyes.

Neither one said anything, but when Siigih was ready to move on, he nodded to Kaden and the tan Lombax led the way further into the caves. Though, a bit more cautiously than before, with repulsor fields at the ready.

It wasn't long, however, before they came across another dissected Anthropod. This one wasn't alone, either. 

The deeper they went into the cave the more corpses they found. Whatever this unknown creature was, it had a ravenous hunger.

The two of them were just about to turn a corner to the next section of cave when Siigih tripped on some loose rock and fell forward. 

Kaden turned to try and steady him, but while the Kerchu flailed in an attempt to stop his fall, he smacked Kaden's spotlight drone with his hand.

The little drone, practically weightless thanks to its anti-grav system, was propelled forward, where it hit the tunnel wall before ricocheting off and eventually crashing somewhere beyond a corner.

Kaden helped Siigih get back to his feet, "Are you alright?" he asked dutifully.

Siigih nodded, "Yes, I'm perfectly fi-,"

Siigih stopped in the middle of his sentence and his eyes widened in horror. 

Kaden turned to follow his line of sight and found that his spotlight drone was still on and lighting up the tunnel ahead. This light was also casting a shadow on the wall.

Standing almost as high as the ceiling, the dark silhouette had only a few defining features to it, but there were significant features none the less. Of them were a set of very pronounced fangs that were detailed magnificently in all their terror against the rock wall.

The jaws of the creature opened and closed repeatedly, in between bending down and tearing off another piece of meat. If Kaden listened carefully enough, he could hear the faint sounds of sinew being torn.

Kaden could feel Siigih shaking in his arms as the terrified Kerchu fumbled for his dropped Buzzblade launcher, "It's definitely some kind of raptor," he whispered fearfully. "We've got to get out of here."

Kaden shook his head, "No, we need to clear the cave out," he countered adamantly. "Besides," he added with a smile, as he pulled out a small grenade from his pocket, "If this is an undocumented species, I want to study it. Cover your ears."

Without another word, Kaden threw the small orb around the corner. There was an eardrum-shattering boom that rocked the cave air, but not the walls or floor. The powerful sound was matched in time with a piercing white light that nearly blinded Siigih even from around the corner. This was because Kaden had thrown a flashbang grenade in the hopes of disorienting the creature.

Less than a second after the blast went off, Kaden was charging around the corner with his wrench held high. While the animal was dazed he'd either knock it out or use his wrench's prong-closing function to seal its jaws shut.

He had time to do none of this, however, as the moment he rounded the corner, he was slammed into the rock wall behind him. His neck held firmly in place between two long, metal wrench prongs.

Siigih hobbled over cautiously to where the two Lombaxes stood glaring at each other, "Get your wrench off my neck," rasped Kaden as the metal squeezed against his throat.

"You threw a flashbang at me," replied Kor, irritation evident in his tone as well.

Siigih, having realized the creature was Kor, attempted to delegate, "We are very sorry Mr. Kor," the Kerchu apologized. "We believed you to be the creature that killed all of these Anthropods.

Kor pulled his wrench out of the wall and off of Kaden before turning to Siigih and tilting his head, "Anthropods?" he replied questioningly.

Siigih nodded, "Yes, there are dozens of them strewn across the tunnel we just came from. They've all had most of their edible meat removed."

Kor took a few steps backwards, down the way he’d come and lifted up another Anthropod shell, except this one wasn't empty. Inside were several strips of meat alongside other, less identifiable, flesh scraps. This wasn't all either. Kor had at least two other Anthropod shells filled with the various meats besides the first.

"Most of it was disgusting," noted Kor casually, "but these were all at least edible,"

Siigih breathed a sigh of relief, "That is good to hear. I'm very sorry about the mistake, Mr. Kor. You see, Mr. Kaden and I both assumed that some kind of raptor must have been involved and we believed the shadow of you on the wall was it. Especially since the toxic livers and  _ (Translation Inappropriate) _ were also taken."

Kaden rubbed his neck tenderly while trying to hide a slight smirk on his face, "Yeah, if only we'd known that Kor was in here, had a mouth full of fangs, and could digest toxic organs easily."

There was an odd tone to Kaden's voice that Siigih noticed, it sounded like sarcasm, but he assumed it was just due to his throat being sore, "Well, now that we've regrouped, let's finish clearing these caves," said the Kerchu obliviously, clearly relieved to have found no dangerous raptors.

* * *

With the cave now cleared and their camp set, the full five-member team had split up once more to continue their mission. It was less than an hour until the Crust Piercers finished their scans, so to save time, the groups had set off to each of their starting sites. 

The moment the scans completed, they would retrace their routes, collecting the Piercers as they went, before finally meeting back up at the cave. It would be at that point that Kaden would decide if they still had time to set up the scanners on the next island or not.

Kaden and Kor arrived safely at their first scan site and took a seat nearby, waiting for Kaden's NID to receive the finished scan data.

After the two had a moment to breathe, Kor broke the silence first, "So, what questions do you have for me this time?" he asked.

Kaden didn't like Kor, but he especially didn't like what he perceived to be a contemptuous tone, "What makes you think I have anything to ask 'you'?" he replied with what he hoped to be an equally contemptuous tone.

Kor tilted his head at Kaden, "Because you've been asking me questions all day. You even asked me if I would answer them honestly earlier."

"What's wrong with a question or two?" Kaden asked indifferently. He was already in a hostile mode, so he was not completely sure why he was trying to deny his intentions.

Kor shook his head, "Admittedly, it is a reasonable strategy. As I said, I am honor-bound to answer any question that I would not die to keep secret. It is a good idea to ask all the questions you can about your enemy. The more you know the stronger an opponent you will become. You should not hold back and press this advantage while you can."

Kaden was again irritated by Kor's words. He didn't like the way his armored companion said 'advantage'. It was like he was subtly saying that even if Kaden beat him the next time they fought, it would be due to the unfair information advantage that he had.

"You're right, Kor," Kaden agreed with a mock tone of acknowledgement. "Having you answer my questions 'is' an advantage, but I don't want you to use that as an excuse, so how about this: while we're waiting for this scanner to finish up, you can ask any question you want and 'I' will answer it."

Kor was both surprised and intrigued by Kaden's words. It was true that he found the tan Lombax interesting, if not insane, but this was a good opportunity to learn about his enemy too, "Very well then," he began as he considered his first question. "I wish to know what it is that you seek."

Kaden sighed and rubbed the space between his eyes, immediately regretting his offer, "And what do you mean by that?" he asked, yet again needing a translation for Kor's vagueness.

Kor studied Kaden as he contemplated his next words, "I seek strength," he answered as a way of example. "I seek a stronger opponent and a greater challenge so that I might overcome them and become stronger myself. While I despise you, Kaden, and the way you fight, that hatred only pushes me further in my desire to overcome you and grow stronger for it. This is why I seek your defeat. You, however, choose to challenge me time and again, but I do not believe you seek from it the same thing I do. So I ask again, what is it that you seek?"

"Knowledge," answered Kaden flatly. It was not a question he had needed to contemplate much, he had been considering it his whole life, "Ever since I was young, my intelligence has been what set me apart from everyone else. But, there is a difference between 'knowledge' and 'intelligence' that most people don't realize. Intelligence is one's ability to learn, one's ability to study something, absorb its details, and understand it. I've always been more intelligent than everyone else. As far back as I can remember I've been able to grasp things, concepts and ideas, much faster than my peers. I've even surpassed most of my superiors and the adults by the time I was twelve."

Kaden looked up at the sky as he reminisced. He smiled slightly as he remembered some of his best 'Eureka!' moments.

After a few moments, however, his smile faded, "And yet, I was always treated like an idiot, simply because I didn't know about the rules to some stupid kids' game that everyone played, or because I didn't know about some moronic pop culture icon. It wasn't that I was stupid, I just lacked that specific kind of knowledge at the time. But, no matter how intelligent I proved myself to be or how many times I proved that I had gained or understood more information than the people around me, they'd always find that one piece of common knowledge that I didn't have and taunt me without end because of it. Of course, I later gained the knowledge that this was done out of jealousy and from then on I was able to handle these situations much more 'intelligently'."

Kaden smiled again. It was a gleeful smile, but also terrifyingly dark. Even Kor felt a slight chill from it. It reminded him that, of all the shortcomings he would choose to point out about his opponent, even the ones he'd exaggerate out of spite, Kaden's ability to learn and adapt had never even crossed his mind. Even to Kor, Kaden's intelligence seemed inlombax.

Kaden then took a deep breath, "I have always sought to know everything, to understand all there is, so that I can never be considered 'stupid' again. It's been said that knowledge is a kind of power, hasn't it? If so, then knowledge is the 'strength' that I seek."

Armor plates scraped against each other as Kor reoriented himself to better face Kaden. The tan Lombax's words were deeper than he'd expected to hear from a madman and he was intrigued. 

"If what you seek is knowledge and knowledge alone, then what knowledge do you seek from challenging me?" he asked.

A wide grin split across Kaden's face and the tan Lombax started to laugh. The laugh was dark and filled with equal parts malice as mirth. The sound was so confusing, that Kor subconsciously inched his hand closer to his wrench handle as a precaution.

"The better question is, what 'isn't' there for me to seek from you?!" Kaden cackled. The tan Lombax's mind was filled with the irony of Kor's question. After all the unanswered mysteries that had shaken his mental foundation and made his world spin… after all of that, the very creature responsible for it had no inkling of its own value.

"I would ask that you explain the meaning of your words?" Kor questioned further, concern of entirely new kind in his mind now.

Kaden shook his head, "Where to start… I mean, before I even met you on the train to Nova, I wanted to know who in the name of the council would be living on a half-volcanic, half-ice wasteland in the middle of a never-ending storm made of radiation and tortured children's souls?!"

"You realize that you are talking about my home, correct?" asked Kor, somewhat threateningly.

"My point exactly," agreed Kaden, missing the threat in his companion's tone. "Everything, from where you live to what you are, is a blatant challenge to anyone who seeks knowledge and I don't intend to rest until I've either pulled apart every mystery about you… or until I lose interest in the information. Plus, I need to pay you back for making me look like a fool at the end of the MSE tournament."

Kor was very confused on how he should feel about what was coming out of Kaden's mouth, so he just pressed the conversation forward, "But if what you seek is knowledge, why do you persist in taking unnecessary risks to obtain it? I seek strength, and so, fighting and putting myself in danger is the only way to gain it, but you could just as easily learn what you need from a distance. Your actions seem illogical."

Kaden shrugged, "Everything is a matter of priority and value," he answered vaguely.

Kor growled, he was tired of needing a translation for Kaden's words, "Care to explain that?" he asked.

Kaden was quiet for a short while as he contemplated his answer, "Let's try this example: Let's say someone makes you an offer, that for the cost of a hundred bolts you can play a game of chance and if you win said game, they'll give you two hundred back. Your odds are nine out of ten, as in you have a ninety percent chance of winning. Would you take the bet?"

Kor thought about the question before eventually nodding, "Yes, I would."

"Yeah, well, who wouldn't at those odds?" continued Kaden with a slight grin, "But why risk anything? You could probably earn two-hundred bolts as a mercenary or even work at a local fast food restaurant for no risk at all, right?"

"Because that would take longer," countered Kor. "I would have to go through the process of an entire mercenary mission, or have to work many hours to earn the same amount. The risk of a hundred bolts is a lot, but my chances of winning are well worth it."

"Then let's change the 'value' of the bet," continued Kaden cheerfully, "Now the bet is offered again, with the same ninety-percent chance of winning and the same two-hundred bolt reward, except this time what you must bet is your life and if you lose you will die. Would you accept?"

Kor immediately shook his head, "Of course not!"

Kaden's smile widened, "Why not?" he asked so sincerely that it almost felt like a legitimate question. "You took the previous bet. You get the same reward and you have the same chance of winning, so why not this time?"

"My life is worth more than a measly two-hundred bolts!" declared Kor, irritated that he should answer such an obvious question.

Kaden nodded his agreement, "Exactly. Even though the chances are high and the reward great, the value of what you risk far outweighs that of the reward… Now let's change the situation this time. Say now you are crippled and boltless. You are unable to work at even the lowest paying jobs and you can't afford even the most basic food... Would you accept the bet now?"

Kor did not answer. He was still stuck on the image of himself being crippled and useless. His whole life had been dedicated to being a warrior, so if he ever came to that point, he didn't even know if he'd ‘want’ to live on.

A small chuckle broke from Kaden's throat, making Kor look up and bringing his attention back to the conversation, "This time the bet hasn't changed, you offer the same risk, for the same reward, for the same chance. The only difference now is that the value of your life is much less than the value of those two-hundred bolts that you can no longer easily make on your own."

Kor still did not speak. He was now regretting asking a question of a madman.

Kaden shook his head, almost as if he were disappointed, "People like to say that everyone is 'born' equal, but I'm sure you realize that no one 'dies' equally. All throughout this galaxy, there are those, like you, who value their lives greater than two-hundred bolts and those who do not. This is true for every kind of risk/reward that exists. ‘You’ risk your life to gain strength and you risk your life serving me to gain honor. This seems illogical, in my opinion, as honor has little value to me. While at the same time, risking my life to gain knowledge seems illogical to you. The difference here is not in what is or is not logical… the only difference is the value that each of us puts on our lives and of that which we 'seek'."

There was a short silence as Kor contemplated Kaden's words and it brought to mind one last question to ask, "Then, Kaden, of this I ask you, what value do you put on 'your' life?"

Kaden sighed at the vagueness of the question. It felt like Kor had missed the point, that 'value' was relative and that no one can put a value on something alone, it must be weighed against something else.

But still, he had promised to answer Kor's questions, "What value do you put on your wrench?" he asked coldly as his way of answering.

The two sat in silence for the next several minutes. Kor didn't like what Kaden had said and he was made all the more uncomfortable by the fact that he could understand it. 

It wasn't that Kaden was saying that his life was worthless. On the contrary, Kor valued his wrench like a partner and close friend. One that had saved him and been by his side for as long as he could remember. What Kaden was saying was that his life was simply a precious tool to be used to get what he wanted. There was always the risk of losing it, but he risked it anyway because of how much he valued knowledge.

This also brought to mind Kor's own teachings and philosophy. He had been taught that in a single fight, one's life is the main priority. But in a battle or war, where many warriors fought together towards a common goal, the main priority was victory. He had then been taught that a warrior should see themselves as no more than a tool to be used by their chief in order to obtain that victory. That they must be willing to be sacrificed in order to gain the reward.

Kor still did not like Kaden for the way he fought and at this point, he was even able to hate Kaden just for his personality, but at the very least, as a warrior who also fought with his life on the line, he was able to respect him.


	9. A Tale of Two Lombaxes, Part 3

The rest of the afternoon and most of the following evening on Sargasso went without incident.

After the Crust Piercers had finished their scans of the second sector, Kaden had radioed the Kerchu, letting them know that they could begin collecting the scanners again.

He had also mentioned that the scans had managed to find some nice gelatonium deposits underneath the island that he and Kor had traveled out to. This still only left them with barely a third of their quota filled, but at least it was progress.

With the general area having been seen as relatively safe already, Kaden had pushed for him and Kor to speed up their tasks, ordering his armored companion to dismantle the second and fourth scanners they'd set up, while he used his Swingshot to quickly retrieve the third one from the island. Luckily, the troglosaur hadn't moved from its spot.

Thanks to this, the Lombax team had arrived back at the cave way ahead of schedule. 

After a little calculation, Kaden had then figured out that if they began setting up scanners on the third island immediately, they would be able to complete the network before nightfall. 

The third island was smaller than the previous two and only required five scanners in total. Kaden's plan had been to complete three sites himself and leave the other two for the Kerchu, but the Kerchus' Crust Piercers would need to be reactivated by a Lombax.

To save time, Kaden had ordered Kor to remain at the cave, after he'd radioed the Kerchu group to inform them of the plan. When the three of them arrived at the cave, Kor would reactivate their devices before heading out and meeting Kaden at the second site. 

It was getting more dangerous to split up the further away from Kerchu territory they went, but Kaden was sure he could outrun anything he came across with his hoverboots and Kor would be traveling along the same path Kaden had used, so any trouble would have already been run into.

This hasty pace was hard to keep up, however, and it wasn't until the third and final node that the two Lombaxes finally got a chance to relax. 

Now that their work for the day was done, and the sun was still over an hour away from setting, Kaden and Kor were free to take a leisurely stroll back to the cave with food, drink, and a good night's sleep foremost on their minds.

It was with this mindset that Kaden took interest in a familiar looking plant he'd just spotted, "Want to pick a few of those?" he asked with a gesture to the weed. "Might go good with dinner."

Kor followed Kaden's gesture and when he spotted the plant, he visibly shook with revulsion, "If that was meant to be a joke, the humor was poor."

Kaden was slightly taken aback as he’d distinctly remembered Alister saying that Kor had eaten the usually vomit inducing weed with no problem in their first week of school. He wouldn't have been surprised if Kor did not want to eat it, but he hadn't expected such a display of disgust from the usually stoic Crimson Reaper.

"I thought you Red Lombaxes had a stomach that could handle them?" Kaden questioned reflexively.

Kor shook his head, "I know not the differences between my people's and a Demari's stomach strength. I only know that, even should I find myself on the brink of starvation and surrounded by heaps of that horrible plant, I would choose death."

Upon reflection, Kaden had to admit that his assumptions were unmerited, "I suppose that even if the legends about Red Lombaxes having iron stomachs were true, there was nothing about you guys having silicon tongues as well," he joked as his way of admitting he'd been mistaken.

Kor turned to look at Kaden as they walked, "What other 'legends' do you have of my people?" the armored Lombax asked curiously.

Kaden was hesitant to answer, but he was never one to stand in the way of knowledge gathering, "Well, there are a lot of them really. I'm guessing most are just myths, though," he explained as he gave the question some thought.

He quickly sorted through the wacky list in his head, before settling on one that had significant importance to him, "How good is your sense of smell?" he asked. "Red Lombaxes are supposed to have anywhere from ten to a hundred times the sensitivity of 'Demari' Lombaxes… and we’re already galaxy famous for our olfactory senses.”

"My whole world merely smells like stale, filtered air," Kor noted bitterly.

At hearing the unhappy words, Kaden immediately felt a twinge of empathy for Kor, which he quickly forced out of his mind before pressing on, "When you were chasing me toward the third node in the CtD match, how did you find me when I was holo-guised?" he pressed further. 

As Kaden spoke, he remembered clearly the image of Kor opening his mask and sniffing the air before looking straight at him.

Kor was silent for a while and Kaden was about to say something again when he finally spoke, "Truthfully, I did follow your scent through that final battlefield. I would say that it is similar to my sense of hearing, more a result of experience than latent ability, but if such an act seems to require a superior sense of smell than you possess, then it must be so."

"Yes, it does!" replied Kaden, "To be able to track me by smell through that indoor battlefield, where the air was stagnant and filled with industrial odors like oils, ozone, and fire... that requires a superior nose." 

Kor nodded his understanding and, it might have been Kaden's imagination, but it also seemed like his gait became a bit lighter, almost… skippy as they walked.

"You could also credit yourself as part of the reason I was able to track you down," added Kor, causing Kaden to raise an inquisitive eyebrow. "The smell of burnt metal and caustic chemicals cling to your fur as if it were your own. It is defining and makes your scent stick out like a candle in the darkness."

Kaden didn't know how he felt about having his smell described to him, so he simply pressed on with Kor's question about the legends, "Well, other than the ones I already know to be true, like you having ridiculous strength, sharp teeth, super hearing, super smell, and a stomach that can dissolve metal, everything else sounds plain made up. You can't fly, can you?"

"Fly?" repeated Kor in confusion. "Your people believe a Lombax is capable of flight without aid?"

"Well, I don't ‘personally’," insisted Kaden defensively, "but legends become myths and myths become nonsense after enough time. Flight isn't even the weirdest one, though," he continued as he smiled and thought back to all the 'research' he'd tried to do on Red Lombaxes. "There are legends that say Red Lombaxes breathe fire, that they can change their fur color in order to camouflage themselves, that they can grow to over ten feet tall, or even that they can eat a creature's brains and gain its skills and memories."

Kor turned his head to Kaden and tilted it curiously, "Is such a thing unusual among your people?" he asked without a scrap of sarcasm.

Kaden stopped dead in his tracks and simply stared for a second, "What is?!" he shouted in surprise, amazed at the possibility that one of those myths could be real, but even more concerned about which one Kor meant, if not all of them.

Kor stopped as well and returned Kaden's stare, "Can Demari Lombaxes not-"

But the armored Lombax trailed off as his eyes looked off into the distance. 

Kaden was held in suspense, desperate to hear which of those four absurd myths Kor did not consider 'unusual', but the loud buzzing that had caught Kor's attention soon caught his as well. 

Following Kor's line of sight, Kaden spotted a bloated-looking dragonfly-like creature, hovering in the air several meters away. It was possible that Kaden's shout of surprise had alerted it from where it was resting nearby, but it was unknowable and unimportant at the moment.

Kaden groaned with irritation and activated his Nuclear Fists as several more Grubsnuckers began to hover into view, joining the first one as they flew toward him, "Well, I guess I'll have to handle this one myself," he grumbled, frustrated at being interrupted more than anything. "You don't have a ranged weapon, so you're about as useful as those rocks over there.”

Kaden's comparison was actually more scientific than metaphoric, since he had thought, in the back of his mind, that he could use Kor as a lombax-shield if the need arose.

There was a brief grunt of indignation from Kor's helmet speakers as he demagnetized his wrench from his back, but he said nothing else.

Both of Kaden's two Nuclear Fists had finished charging just as the five Grubsnuckers flew into range. Without hesitation, he raised one hand into the air, Nova Claws slightly extended, and fired his focused beam, cutting a line of burning hot plasma through the sky. 

The sword of fire cut three of the flying creatures in half in an instant, popping their caustic, balloon-like stomachs as if they were… um, balloons... before its energy ran out. 

Kaden was proud of the number killed, too. Whenever he released his beam attack, it was hard to steer its path accurately, so he was usually reduced to just letting it take its course in a straight line. He had been lucky that his targets were so well set up.

With more than half of the enemies gone, the tan Lombax quickly followed up for a second attack, but by now the Grubsnuckers were close enough to retaliate. 

The two of them rapidly inflated their fat bellies before spitting out a hissing, green wad of acid apiece. 

Twin gelatinous balls of goo arced through the air toward Kaden. 

Kor suddenly appeared in front of his master, eager to prove his value, and swung his wrench at the first acid wad. 

The kinetic multiplier in Kor's wrench crushed the ball, much like how it did to Kaden's Fast Balls, but unlike Kaden's Fast Ball, this attack was held together by mucus. 

The force of the strike only served to break down that mucus bond even further and the wad of acid burst like a bubble. 

Most of the material was sent back by the force of the wrench's momentum, where it splashed safely on the ground, but a few drops flew backwards and landed on Kor's armor, hissing as they burned tiny pockmarks in it.

Kaden sighed and pushed Kor out of the way as the second attack followed the first. 

The tan-furred Lombax then raised his free hand and activated his repulsor field, causing the wad of acid to splash against the shield with a spark of energy, before being repulsed safely away without a single drop getting through.

Filled with a feeling of superiority, Kaden immediately followed up with the second beam attack, but this did not go as planned. 

The beam cut easily through the first Grubsnucker, but the second one managed to dodge it by zipping down with surprising agility.

With both his Fists now exhausted, Kaden needed to recharge, but the single remaining Grubsnucker continued to rain down orbs of acid upon him and he didn't have time to do so. He then tried to make do with his Fastballs, but they were not enough by themselves. Each one he threw was dodged easily by the zippy little bug, making him grit his teeth in frustration.

This is where Kor saw his opportunity. If he could get close enough to the Grubsnucker, he could reach it with his wrench. His wrench throw was faster than Kaden's Fast Balls and his target shouldn't have time to move before it was struck.

In the next moment, the armored Lombax was off like a cannon, sprinting full speed toward his objective. The plan was sound, but incomplete. The moment Kor got close to the Grubsnucker, the ground under his feet began to tremble and a screeching horde of Anthropods erupted from it.

Kor didn't have time to hesitate, he immediately dug into the swarm of chittering insects with his wrench, splattering them at a breathtaking pace.

As for the Grubsnucker, despite its proximity to Kor, it saw Kaden as the primary threat, and it continued to spit wads of acid mercilessly at the Lombax that killed its companions. 

The creature's attacks did not have a high rate of fire, but they were just fast enough to keep Kaden from getting the chance he needed to fully charge his gauntlets.

From Kaden's perspective, the situation looked bad. His primary weapon was pinned down and he was unable to get a hit on his opponent with his secondary attack. All the while, Kor was once again trapped in a pool of biting teeth and claws. 

The armored Lombax had also lost his winch during the fight with the pterodactyl. Kor would either have to defeat all of the Anthropods by himself, or try to escape on foot, which would likely result in significant damage.

With a deep breath, Kaden made a decision that he was not happy about... he made the decision to help Kor. 

Kaden's Fastballs may have been too slow to hit the Grubsnucker, but the same was not true of the Anthropods. Immediately after he'd dodged the next wad of acid, Kaden launched a full barrage of tiny, nuclear orbs at the ground around Kor's position. He was very careful to make sure that they only struck just outside of Kor's range, so his companion wouldn't be in immediate danger of the shockwaves, but they were still close enough for him to feel it, something that made Kaden smile slightly.

The dirt spewed up from the Fastball craters and bits of Anthropods were scattered to the horizon. The clouds of dust and dirt grew so large that they engulfed Kor and Kaden lost sight of him.

Kaden didn't have time to be concerned, however, as the Grubsnucker's next attack was already coming. 

He dodged it easily and came back up to face his opponent once more, but, to his surprise, he found that the Grubsnucker was no longer focused on him as it now had a long Omniwrench handle protruding from its underbelly.

As the slain creature fell, Kor burst out from the dust cloud a moment later and quickly moved to retrieve his weapon. A few surviving Anthropods emerged after him, but they were too few and too slow to catch up. 

The armored Lombax then headed back toward Kaden.

Kor's movements were paced at first, but they soon turned into a full sprint that carried him quickly toward his companion/master. 

Kaden found the sudden alteration of speed to be a bit odd at first and concern quickly began to fill him as he realized that a large, armored Lombax was charging straight at him. 

He hadn't been expecting Kor's betrayal so late in the mission, so his mind was slow to react, while his so-called 'servant' slammed into him at full speed.

Just as the two hit the ground, a wad of acid exploded on the spot that Kaden had just been standing on.

Now, with his back on the ground, Kaden looked up to find six more Grubsnuckers now within range from behind. He had been so focused on the battle at hand that he hadn't noticed their approach. They had likely been attracted to the area by the sound of Kaden's Fastball explosions, but there was no way of knowing that for sure. 

Kor was back on his feet within a second and he pulled the slower Kaden up with him. 

Kaden immediately threw up his repulsor fields, just in time to stop a wave of acid wads from striking him and Kor.

They had killed three of the previous group's numbers without letting them even make it into striking range and the last two had still given them a bit of trouble. 

Now that they were facing off against six Grubsnuckers at once, there was absolutely no time between the acid spitting intervals for Kaden to even put down his shields, let alone counterattack. They were completely pinned down.

"The situation is bad," noted Kor, stating the obvious.

The armored warrior stood ready to fight though, and he looked as if he were about to charge the enemy, but Kaden stopped him, "No," he said, noting his companion's posture, "We'll use those rocks as cover. I can't do anything with my hands tied like this. We just need a lull in this barrage to make a break for it."

Kor nodded his acknowledgment of the plan, "Then I will give you that opening," he said before dashing out from behind the safety of Kaden's shields.

The moment he was outside of the shields' protection, at least four of the Grubsnuckers refocused their attention on him, spitting wad after wad of acid in his direction as he dove and dodged around them.

With only two Grubsnuckers on him now, Kaden waited for Kor to get a little closer to the boulder's cover before he would drop his shields as well and join him. 

He wasn't agile enough to dodge the attacks like Kor did, but he had his hoverboots. 

Kaden watched as the two Grubsnucker inflated for another attack, then he dropped his shield and ignited his boots at the same time, blasting off and disappearing from the spot long before the wads of acid landed.

Kaden managed to reach the rocks just before Kor did and he dove behind them.

Kor, now the only target for all six of the grubsnuckers, spun around and joined Kaden behind cover, as splashing wads of acid chased his tail.

"Now what?" asked the armored Lombax, while more acid burst against their cover, causing tiny, hissing droplets to rain down lightly over their heads.

Kaden didn't answer, he was too busy trying to think of a solution to their caustic situation. 

Now that he was in cover, his hands were free to charge his Nuclear Fist attack, but even if they were fully charged, their powerful, single shots were just as easy to dodge as his Fastballs and to use his beam attack, he would need to stand in the same spot for at least three seconds. With a line of six Grubsnuckers releasing intervaled blasts of acid, there would barely even be a second for him to set himself up.

At that moment, a wad of acid managed to arc perfectly over the boulder behind which they were hiding. Kor immediately moved to strike it with his wrench, again sending most of the acid in a safe direction, but not completely. 

It was in that moment that Kaden noticed the Metal Storm node that Kor was still wearing. It was useless without some form of ultra magnetically receptive metal, but Kor just so happened to be carrying such a metal. It was in the shape of a ridiculously oversized wrench.

"Kor, give me your arm," Kaden ordered bluntly.

Kor looked at the tan Lombax with confusion and concern, "Why?" he asked, ever suspicious of anything that Kaden did.

Kaden growled at Kor's wasting of precious time, "Because I'm going to synchronize your Metal Storm node's magnetic polarity signature with that of your wrench. That way, even one node will be efficient enough to function as if you still had the full MS system."

Kor's face looked amazed under his helmet. He didn’t understand all of what had been said, but he got the gist of it, "Can you really do that?” he asked in disbelief. “It sounds complicated and this is a complex piece of technology."

Kaden grinned "Of course I can do that," he said confidently, "I invented it."

There was a long moment where the only sound that could be heard was the splash of acidic phlegm on the rocks around them. 

Kor grunted, before speaking, "I already told you that I would obey your orders, Kaden, but I will not believe your lies."

Kaden clenched his teeth and growled in irritation again, "Then follow my orders!” he barked angrily. “I don't care if you believe me or not, just shut up and do what you're told!"

Kor was not even given time to comply before Kaden seized his arm and yanked it forward, nearly toppling the armored Lombax in process. 

The tan Lombax then immediately started pulling plugs and tools from all sorts of odd places on his body and armor. 

It was a sight to behold. In just a few seconds, Kaden had pulled out nearly a dozen different electrical wires that now connected his helmet and suit to Kor's gauntlets, his malleus wrench, and the MS node. All the while, Kaden kept pulling long-necked tools from pockets and crevices that shouldn't have even existed. 

The tan Lombax used them expertly to open metal plates, snip wires, remove metal burrs, and light-weld various places with a spray of sparks, all while rewriting Kor's equipment's programming with a direct NID connection.

While all of this was a spectacle in itself, Kor found himself particularly captivated by the tan Lombax's intense focus. Kaden's eyes never blinked as they flicked around, studying everything carefully, while his hands simultaneously worked on different tasks as if independent in their own thinking, but in complete harmony with his. The sound of acid splashing and hissing against their cover seemed to be as distant to him as the stars.

Even as Kor watched Kaden work, however, from his peripheral vision he managed to spot another wad of acid, which had arced perfectly over their boulder again. 

Instinctively, Kor, unable to use his wrench at the moment, spun around and put the acid wad between himself and his master. 

The orb exploded against the ground and doused his armored back with green liquid and a loud wave of hissing reached his ears, but he knew it would take much more than that to break his armor.

"Don't move," grumbled Kaden agitatedly, his work barely interrupted by the sudden attack that he hadn't even been aware of.

Kor turned to face Kaden, ready to protest at being reprimanded for saving him, but his words fell silent. 

While Kor's body had blocked most of the acid, several drops had made it through. One such drop had landed squarely on Kaden's cheek, barely an inch below his eye. 

It hissed and smoked angrily as tan fur and skin was melted away, but despite the incredible pain it must have been causing, Kaden's focus never wavered… his eyes never even blinked.

"Done!" Kaden declared with one final slap of his hand, shutting and resealing Kor's armored panel in the same motion.

Kor had become so focused on Kaden's work that the sudden words had caught him by surprise, "What is?" he asked, dumbfounded.

Kaden glared angrily at his companion, "I'm done with your jury-rigged mag-tether," he explained. "The magnetic polarity of your- of 'my' Metal Storm node is now synced with your wrench's, so you'll be able to roughly control its movements from a distance. It should have a similar feel to when your winch is attached, but without the sharp pull of a physical connection."

Kor weighed his wrench in his hand. It was a very subtle feeling, but he could, in fact, notice a difference. It was almost as if his wrench were alive and trying to react to his movements.

Without another word, Kor nodded in understanding before sprinting out of cover.

Kaden was surprised by Kor's sudden charge and was about to stop him, but decided better of it. The armored warrior now had the reach he needed to fight the Grubsnuckers and he seemed eager to handle the threat on his own. 

Plus, there was a sudden, intense pain in his face. He didn't know where it had come from and it worried him, so he quickly set about trying to figure it out.

Kor moved like the wind, sprinting toward the flying, spitting insects with incredible speed, dodging acid attacks like they were leaves floating gently through the air. In a matter of seconds, he had almost reached his targets.

The few of the Anthropods that had survived, had apparently decided to join the new group of Grubnuckers. The small beetle-like creatures seemed to be just intelligent enough to know they shouldn't break off from their air support and so they stood guard on the ground, waiting for prey to come within a safe distance. 

When they noticed Kor's armored form approaching their location, they eagerly scurried out to meet him. However, there was no such thing as 'safe' when Kor Vol'terran was involved.

The few Anthropods that had survived quickly lost the right to call themselves that, but they proved excellent test subjects in the process. While still dodging acid blasts, Kor had hurled his wrench toward the small clump of Anthropods. 

The large weapon was thrown at an angle that easily cut through two of the fat creatures. But, just after the second one exploded and just before the wrench was about to bury itself in the ground behind it, Kor yanked backwards on his gauntlet.

From the moment he'd thrown it, Kor had felt the odd sensation on his arm. It was as if invisible, stretchy ropes were attached to his precious melee weapon. Upon registering the pulling motion of his wrist, the newly reprogrammed Metal Storm node adjusted its magnetic fields to attract the wrench back to its master.

As if tied to a bungee cord, the heavy wrench came back like a yo-yo and Kor caught it easily in his hand with a heavy clang. 

A small grin split the pair of lips hidden within his helmet. The weapon worked exactly as Kaden had said and that meant he now had the range to win this fight.

Once again, Kor hurled his weapon into the air, but this time he threw it to his side, missing the remaining Anthropods completely. 

This wasn't a mistake, however. Once the weapon had made it a certain distance, the armored Lombax pulled on his gauntlet again, except this time swinging it forward as he did so. 

The heavy malleus wrench followed the path drawn by Kor's hand and it swung like a pendulum whose pivot point was centered on its thrower. The weapon then reached its targets and ripped through the small mob of beetles like a rhinoceros through paper walls.

Taking full advantage of his weapon's ridiculous swing arc, Kor obliterated well over half of the remaining Anthropods before he pulled up again and brought the wrench back seamlessly.

Kor caught his weapon once more and was now grinning from ear to ear. He had always been taught to think of his wrench as an extension of his body and he had always used it as such, like he simply had a longer arm. With this new modification, however, it felt to Kor like he had an arm that could reach forward without limit. 

All at once, the armored Lombax’s world began to change. 

After years and years of practice, the large sphere around his body that represented his effective attack reach had become something that he could feel, it had become part of him. Now he felt that sphere suddenly become disrupted and grow exponentially in an instant. He felt like he could reach the very clouds in the sky if he wanted.

With excitement running through him, Kor sprinted forward once more. Now that he'd gotten a feel for his new weapon, he made a beeline for his next target. 

The remaining Anthropods were splattered at close range, almost as an afterthought, before Kor planted his foot and hurled his wrench up into the air. It flew so fast that the wind whistled by it and the Grubsnucker it was aimed at didn't even see it leave his hands before it was impaled by the massive weapon.

The large head of the wrench had been moving so fast that it went right through the Grubsnucker and out the other side. Kor danced backward to dodge a few more acid wads from the remaining Grubsnuckers, before pulling back on his wrench and lining up its return trajectory, striking down yet another Grubsnucker before the weapon landed with a clang back into his hand.

Four Grubnsuckers remained now and they shook violently above him in a way that made Kor believe that they were trembling in fear, rather than it being a result of their rapid wing movements.

The next attack Kor sent missed its target as the shifty Grubsnuckers dropped, rose, and moved side to side in a desperate attempt to avoid being hit. 

Despite successfully dodging the first attack, however, the creatures, who never took their eyes off of their opponent, were unable to see the return attack. The wrench went in through the back end of one Grubsnucker and burst forward from its stomach before being caught by Kor again. 

The weapon hissed with acid, but it was made of material strong enough as to be immune to such damage.

The next throw was dodged yet again, but this time the Grubsnuckers turned around to see where it would come back from. 

They managed to dodge it on the return attack as well and they even seemed to be pleased with themselves, but now that their focus had been foolishly taken off of Kor and he no longer had to dodge incoming acid attacks. The armored Lombax was able to catch and rethrow his weapon before the creatures could even turn around.

In addition to the natural speed of his follow-up attack, Kor found that if he kept his arm fully extended after a throw, his newly-reprogrammed wrench would be propelled forward by his Metal Storm node, giving his throw an added boost. 

Less than a second after catching his weapon, another Grubsnucker had exploded in a shower of acid and guts, causing the remaining two to spin around quickly at the sound of their companion being ripped apart. 

Their distraction cost them yet again as Kor's wrench came whistling back and smoothly cut down the fifth Grubsnucker.

Kor, with wrench in hand once again, now faced off with the final acid-spewing opponent. 

The two enemies eyed each other carefully. 

Kor hefted his wrench around, testing its weight in what was more of a subconscious routine than for an actual purpose. 

The buzzing Grubsnucker watched his moves carefully, zipping around at even the slightest sign of Kor's attack coming.

At last, Kor pulled back for his finishing strike and the Grubsnucker immediately flew up, gaining a greater height advantage before swelling its stomach to massive proportions. It was preparing a blast that was much larger than normal, likely everything it had left. 

Kor took a deep breath, as he needed to respond to the creature's dedication in kind. His throw would need to be much higher and much further than what he'd done so far, but with his new enhancement, he had no doubt he'd make it.

As Kor readied his final throw, the Grubsnucker's eyes bulged widely and it prepared to release its grand attack all at once. 

Then, it suddenly exploded in a massive ball of orange flame. 

The boom of a micro-nuclear explosion rattled the air around him, making Kor break his stance and, instead of throwing it, use his wrench to block a gruesome spray of finely ground Grubsnucker from getting on his helmet visor.

When the shockwave had passed, Kor turned to see Kaden with his palm outstretched and smoking. 

Realizing that the fight was over, the armored Lombax relaxed his stance and began walking back toward his companion. 

It irritated Kor to no end that Kaden had stepped in to take the final kill. It would have been the perfect end to an amazing battle. 

However, his elation surged again as he reflected on how amazing his basic attacks had become with nothing more than a few slight adjustments. Even though he was still mad about losing his beloved Metal Storm, especially since he knew it had been a one-of-a-kind weapon that he could not replace, he would now be able to fight using the spirit of the weapon system once more.

As Kor finally reached Kaden and looked into the smug face of his master, his elation turned to mud in his veins. Mud that suddenly began to weigh him down. 

No matter how good someone was with electronics, no lombax could have rebuilt and reprogrammed Kor's Metal Storm node so quickly without knowing it inside and out… it had been a one-of-a-kind item.

Kor had watched Kaden work carefully, too. From the moment the tan Lombax had opened up the node, he'd set to work with all the familiarity of someone completing a daily routine. The armored warrior did not want to believe it, but he could not deny that the chances of Kaden having built and designed one of his favorite weapons of all time… were quite high.

Kor stopped walking and stared at Kaden for a long time.

This caused a curious expression on the Lombax’s face, "What is it?" Kaden asked after the silence went on far too long.

Kor lowered his eyes and looked at the MS node on his gauntlet, "You really did make the Metal Storm, didn't you?" the armored Lombax asked, knowing what the answer would be.

A large smirk split Kaden's face in a grand display of self-satisfaction, "And all this time, your beloved weapon was actually 'my' prototype," he mocked gleefully. "It wasn't even the finished version," he added before raising his technologically advanced gauntlets in the air. "They might only use the same directed magnetic field principle, but I've always had the superior version."

Kor lowered his head in shame as a harsh realization settled on him, "You made those gloves of exploding light," he said solemnly.

Kaden groaned slightly, "They're called 'Nuclear Fists'," he corrected, "and yes, I did. I design and make every weapon I use. Most of the gadgets too. Even the occasional transportation vehicle, though only when I have a ‘lot’ of time."

Kor's shoulders began to droop and his knees buckled as the weight of what he'd been told became physical. He began to shake his head in the manifestation of his internal refusal to accept the truth.

Kaden eyed the armored Lombax with concern, "You alright there, Mr. Red Reaper?" he asked, purposefully using the wrong shade of color to try and irritate Kor.

There was no acknowledgment of the jab, however, "You ‘made’ them," Kor reiterated quietly.

Kaden looked around in confusion, wondering what was going on, "I know, I just told you that. For the second time actually."

Kor shook his head again, but this time it was a response to Kaden, "That's not what I meant," he said with a downtrodden tone that was blatantly clear even through his metallic voice. "I dislike warriors who rely so greatly on their weapons. The Gold Bolts were like this. There was not enough skill between the lot of them to fight a single Anthropod. Instead, they purchased their abilities the same way they had hired me. They relied on the strength of others, a strength that was not their own and was definitely not earned. For this very reason, I hated you above all else. You who defeated me with borrowed strength."

"Awwww, Kor," intoned Kaden sarcastically, "I hate you too."

"No!" shouted the armored Lombax, so loud that it made Kaden take a step back reflexively, "No..." he repeated, this time much quieter, while shaking his head again. "I had believed you a feeble warrior who used weapons to make yourself strong, but that's not true! You are a builder of weaponry who uses his craftsmanship to become a warrior. Your weapons are not someone else's strength, they are yours and yours alone. Your skills of engineering and fabrication are no less deserving than those of a warrior's speed or strength. Your weapons are no less a part of you than my arms are a part of me!"

Kaden was liking what he was hearing, but he was still confused overall, "I see. An interesting bit of philosophy, but where are you going with this?"

Kor slid forward onto his knees, his arms stretched forward and he pressed his hands into the ground, as if some colossal weight were crushing him, almost as if pleading. The scene was strange and made Kaden uncomfortable, causing him to take a few more reflexive steps backward.

"My hatred was unjust!" declared Kor as if the shame of admitting such a thing was too much to bear. "You were the one who fought with honor and skill," he added, before pulling his arms in and curling up tightly, "But I… I was the one who relied on a strength that was not mine! I did not build my Gemini pistols, nor the components of my wrench. I have studied them carefully, tried to learn as much about them as I could and to make them a part of me, but still, I have used ‘other’ weapons. I saw their use as nothing more than a slight aid, believing that it was my skill which truly drove them. But... with 'your' Metal Storm, I used unbelievable strength that was not my own. What's more, I used your strength to aid me in my very fight against you! Without 'your' strength I would have been defeated easily and without note..."

As Kor curled up even tighter into his ball of self-pity and shame.

Kaden felt conflicted. It felt unnatural and strange to see Kor like he was now. It clashed violently with Kaden's ever deteriorating image of Kor the monster or even the recent image of Kor the ever calm, honor-obsessed warrior. 

Kaden was also finding it irritating to see the only person he ever considered to have beaten him being belittled. It was fine if he criticized Kor, but having another person insult the opponent that had given him such trouble, somehow felt like it was also insulting him... even if it was Kor himself who was doing the belittling.

The tan Lombax scratched his head awkwardly, "Y-you shouldn't sell yourself short," he began uncomfortable and unsure, looking for words to counter Kor's self-derision. "Mercatus told you right? I had deemed the Metal Storm a failure."

The armored Lombax raised his head slightly, “No,” he countered, “your weapon was marvelous and performed flawlessly. It was ‘I’ who was unworthy of wielding it."

Kaden then stepped around and took a seat on the grass next to Kor. 

The situation was surreal. Instead of a steady stream of insults and hate-filled words that he had come to expect of his arch-rival, he was now being bombarded with compliments and words of admiration.

The tan Lombax shook his head, "No, it wasn't,” he argued back. “I told you just now that it was the prototype and that my gauntlets were the upgraded version, but that's not true. They're actually a downgrade. The Metal Storm was a great weapon, in theory, turning every shard and scrap of metal around you into a never-ending supply of weaponry, but in reality, I didn't have the strength or skill to use it. Even when I tried to find more skilled operators to test its profitability, thinking I could at least sell the thing, I found that even a moderately skilled warrior could barely weaponize it. I gave up on the design, then I took only a few of the magnetic field manipulator schematics and made my Nuclear Fists, calling it the version 2.0 just to make myself feel better."

This change of conversational tone was reflected in Kaden’s mindset. Rather than the usual rush of retorts and counter-insults, Kor’s sudden admissions broke through his reflexive combativeness and all the things he admired about his opponent, thoughts hidden deep within in the confines of his mind, even from himself, suddenly came to the fore.

"They are still quite impressive," Kor noted.

Kaden nodded his thanks, "To tell you the truth, Kor, I designed the Metal Storm to defeat you. I figured that even 'you' couldn't penetrate a cyclone of spinning metal death... The moment I realized that you were using it during our fight in the Depot, I was pissed to see my own weapon used against me." 

Kor lowered his head back into the grass at being reminded of his shame. 

"But that wasn't all," Kaden continued. "More than anything, what really made me mad was seeing how perfectly you used it. With your ridiculous strength you picked up more material than I thought possible... and with your skill, you were able to control that seething mass of constantly fluctuating scrap like it was alive and under your absolute command."

Kor raised his head again, completely this time, and looked up at his enemy/master/rival.

Kaden couldn’t see the expression behind Kor’s mask, but he saw the motion of his head and smiled softly, "When I built the Metal Storm, I did so without any consideration to the skill that would be required to use it. When I realized just how un-user friendly it was, I junked it. Ultimately though, I'm not mad that you found it; seeing their creation being useful is one of the greatest feelings for an engineer... When I built it, the Metal storm was 'made for defeating you', but after seeing you use it, I was mostly irritated because I realized in that moment that it was simply 'made for you'." Kaden turned to match Kor's gaze, he hoped, "Honestly, I'm happy that it's yours."

The two sat in silence for a long time, before realizing how long they’d be staring at each other and turning away.

Both were filled with their own thoughts and mixed feelings about the other that needed to be sorted out.

Neither one knew how long they had sat before finally standing up and continuing their journey back to the caves. 

Neither said a word the entire time.

* * *

As the sun began to set and the air became cooler, the sound of an explosion echoed through the air as Siigih, Reegeh, and Boogoh approached the cave. 

The cave mouth was just over the next hill and the sound had clearly come from that direction. 

Siigih and Reegeh looked at each other with concern, then another explosion echoed over the land.

Siigih nodded to Reegeh before they both pulled out their Buzzblade launchers. 

Reegeh moved closer to Boogoh for safety, while Siigih moved up to see what was going on. 

Once the concerned Kerchu crested the hill, however, the source of the explosions was clear.

From this distance, a figure that was clearly Kaden was launching glowing balls of fire at another figure that was clearly Kor. Words were being exchanged, but Siigih was too far away to hear them clearly. 

Immediately he curled up into a metal ball and rolled as fast as he could toward the two.

He stopped short, in his roller form, to just within earshot: 

"I know you took them!" shouted Kaden, rage seething in his voice as he threw another Fastball.

Kor dodged the attack easily, "You are mad!” he shouted back. “I did not touch the things! You left them sitting in your tent, which you foolishly left open. Any wandering creature could have come in and eaten them!"

There was a lull in the fighting as the two glared at each other. 

Seeing his opening, Siigih quickly scurried up to Kaden, "What is the matter?!" he squeaked, "What happened?!"

Kaden did not take his angry gaze off of Kor as he replied, "This armored ‘meathead’ went into ‘my’ tent and ate my entire box of Tasolup crème chocolates! They were a gift from a… from a close friend of mine."

"I did no such thing!” shouted Kor in the distance. “If they were so precious to you, then you should have eaten them sooner, you fool!" 

Kaden ground his teeth in frustration, "I was saving them for a special occasion, metal face!" The tan Lombax’s expression was angry, but then, suddenly, a wicked and cold grin, one that gave Siigih chills, spread across his face, "That's fine, I guess. We can consider them to be your last meal."

With those words, Kaden raised his hand with deliberate slowness before a small orb of energy formed in his hand and started growing rapidly. Siigih could tell that the coming attack would be a dangerous one.

A second later, however, Kor's large wrench came flying in from seemingly nowhere, before slamming into Kaden's wrist, pinning his arm to the ground and making the ball of energy spurt out of existence.

With his arm pinned, Kaden looked up and snarled, "I thought you couldn't attack your master?!" he demanded, his look of anger returning.

"That is a matter of interpretation!" shouted back Kor, before he swung his arm backwards.

To Siigih's astonishment, the large wrench that was clamped around Kaden's wrist suddenly came to life as if it were attached to an invisible string. It was yanked back towards Kor at incredible speeds, with Kaden still attached, before arcing high into the air. 

At the apex of the arc, the wrench prongs let go of Kaden's wrist and he was sent hurtling through the sky. However, there was a burst of flame that erupted from beneath Kaden’s feet and the tan Lombax landed safely on the ground before resuming his attack.

Siigih blinked several times to make sure he wasn't seeing things, when he realized that his mouth was hanging open. He'd spent enough time with Lombaxes before to know that they had an energetic temperament and flair for the dramatics, but Kaden and Kor's relationship was in a whole other galaxy.

_ 'I'll never be able to understand those two,'  _ Siigih marveled with a shake of his head.


	10. Technical Issues, Big Problems

Kaden's eyes began to open gradually on what was the third day of his mission to Sargasso. 

The young Lombax had been thoroughly exhausted by the previous day's activities, which had the ironic effect of quieting his mind and giving him one of the best night’s sleep he'd had in a very long time. 

However, as he stretched in his tent and enjoyed the comforting feeling of a good rest rattle through his body, his eyes fell upon the ripped and now empty box of Tasolup chocolates. It reminded him that he was going to be in a bad mood today.

Matters were made only worse when the tan Lombax then checked his NID for the most recent Crust Piercer scan results, only to see that there was yet again no gelatonium to be found.

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Kaden exited his tent. 

There, waiting to greet him, was yet another sight that instantly worsened his mood. 

A heavily-armored Lombax, standing guard just far enough away as to be at a safe distance, was eyeing him closely with their ever expressionless eyes.

Kaden’s first reaction was a sense of hostility and a deep desire to throw something at the Lombax. Anything from an explosive energy blast to an insult would do.

But these feelings of hostility weren’t pure. 

Instead, they were somehow dulled, as if covered in a heavy, viscous fluid. It was like the anger Kaden felt was being pulled down into the very swamp that surrounded them always.

It wasn’t like yesterday, either, where his senses had been affected by his restless slumber. He’d had an excellent night’s rest, after all.

No, this time his muted irritation was a sole result of internal factors, of things Kaden could not understand. 

Things, he decided, that were not worth understanding.

And so, the tan Lombax simply turned away and began packing his gear, choosing to focus on the tasks of the day ahead, rather than dwell uselessly. 

His mind was always most clear when he had a goal to focus on.

* * *

The surveying group, having just now finished retrieving all of the Crust Piercers they'd set up the previous day, were currently regrouping at a small, artificial platform that was embedded in the ground.

"What is it?" questioned Boogoh immediately upon arriving within earshot of Kaden, who was kneeling down next to a circular pad in the ground, an arrow icon emblazoned on it.

The young Lombax had been in the process of cleaning the device and making sure that it was still operational.

Despite Kaden’s dislike of having to explain things, he was honestly happy to be given such an easy segue into the device’s exposition, "It's a launch-pad," he said as he stood back up and brushed grime off his hands.

"What does it do?" pressed Boogoh eagerly.

Kaden smiled slightly at the young Kerchu's enthusiasm, "They are an old transport system that was set up to allow Lombaxes to move throughout the Sargassian swamplands during the Great War with little energy and without being detected by most scanners. They were built in conjunction with the supply bunkers.”

The tan Lombax then turned to look at Boogoh, “Do you still have the flight pack I gave you?" he asked, and the small Kerchu nodded. "When you're wearing that device the pack’s system will detect when you step on this pad and sprout wings. The pad will then charge those wings with unstable-equilibrium anti-gravity particles. With one good jump, you'll be sailing through the sky like a bird!" 

Kaden finished his explanation with a kick to the pad, causing the device to activate and glow softly. However, the device was old, and clouds of dust spewed from its sides. Kaden seemed unconcerned, though.

Boogoh's eyes grew wide as he stared at the metal launch-pad, "We're going to fly using Lombax technology?!" he squeaked excitedly. 

Kaden nodded his confirmation and Boogoh shook with barely contained anticipation.

After the young Kerchu was given a moment to calm down, Kaden then demonstrated how to equip a flight pack. Once everyone in the group was wearing theirs properly, he stepped onto the pad. 

In a flash of reflected light, two long wings sprouted from the sides of his flight pack. They glowed brightly as they rapidly absorbed the invisible particles that were now being released from the device in the ground.

As he did so, a small notification popped up on Kaden's helmet visor. The message gave instructions about using something called a Six-axis, which was strange because Kaden had never heard of such a thing. He would be able to control his flight with his NID and the Kerchu had been given control handles similar to the ones they used for their Roller armor.

Assuming that the technology was simply old and the notification referring to something obsolete, Kaden closed out of the message and continued his lesson, "When you're on the pad, the particle reserves should fill almost instantly," he explained. "The moment you jump into the air, you will be made weightless by these contained particles. Maneuverability is poor, but we should be able to cross the swamp with no issues... Allow me to demonstrate."

Without further words, or acknowledging Boogoh's eagerly raised hand, Kaden jumped as high into the air as he could. 

The moment his feet left the ground, the launch-pad released its hold on him and he was propelled up and outward. 

The now-airborne Lombax sailed for a short distance before his NID took control of the flight and tried to steady his trajectory automatically. 

The action was awkward at first and it felt to him like his body was being precariously placed on top of a massive, invisible ball. The flight system had made him practically weightless with no further energy input, but that meant even the slightest nudge in any direction would send him wobbling off-course.

Soon, however, Kaden's NID had collected the information it needed on the device's tendencies and flight control became a breeze… pun not intended.

After drawing a quick circle around the rest of his group, the winged Lombax came back down and landed close to where he’d started. The moment his feet touched the ground, the external jolt of momentum caused his anti-gravity particles to lose their balance.

As he'd mentioned, the particles were forced into a state of equilibrium that was very unstable. It was similar to the concept of a ball being perched perfectly at the top of a hill. As long as nothing interfered, it would remain in place, but one tiny nudge in any direction would send it tumbling down to the valley with no way to get back up on its own.

Anyone who broke the equilibrium of their anti-grav particles like this would need to recharge their flight pack on another Launch-pad in order to take flight again.

Boogoh beamed as Kaden gestured with an arm across his waist and a slight bow.

Siigih and Reegeh both returned the bow in respect of their companion’s skill. 

Kor, on the other hand, kept his distance and showed no acknowledgment of what was going on.

With the details now explained, the only thing left for the group to do was get moving. 

Kaden went around and activated each of the Kerchus' flight packs, being Lombax technology as they were. 

Reegeh, who turned out to have experience using a similar flying device already, was the first to take flight. 

He stepped onto the launch-pad and propelled himself up into the air with experienced ease and circled around the sky in the direction of their eventual destination, waiting for the others to join him.

He was then followed by Boogoh, who took quite a bit of time to figure out the system's controls as he wobbled skyward, but, eventually, he managed to stabilize himself and fly off to join Reegeh.

The young Kerchu, feeling more confident after a little while, then began trying out various acrobatic moves in the air, an activity that Reegeh's stern expression and close proximity soon put a stop to.

Siigih, having stayed back to make sure that Boogoh's take-off was a success, followed quickly after his two companions. He, like Boogoh, had never used a flight pack before, but his natural skill and intelligence, which had earned him his position, allowed him to grasp the controls quickly and he joined the rest of the airborne Kerchu with little issue.

Kaden, having intended on making sure that everyone had a successful launch before going up himself once more, turned to the fourth and final person that this task applied to.

Kor was not moving or saying anything that indicated he was aware that it was his turn. Instead, the armored Lombax simply stared up into the sky as the three Kerchu weaved about, waiting for the Lombax members of their group to join them.

"Kor!" shouted Kaden, making the armored Lombax jump in surprise, something that caught Kaden by surprise. "You're up," he continued with a nod to the launch-pad.

Kor stared at the glowing metal platform for an awkwardly long time, before eventually nodding and taking a step towards it. 

He walked forward steadily at first, but then stopped just before stepping onto it.

Kaden had a good guess as to what was going on in the armored warrior’s head after what he'd witnessed on the space shuttle. Someone like Kor, who lived in a technologically stunted society, was probably unused to flying. The concept alone was likely foreign to him, but Kaden suspected there was more to it as well. 

It wasn't just Kor's dislike of heights that bothered him, it was the fact that he had to entrust his life to a piece of strange technology whose function he could not begin to grasp.

Kor was a character that did things himself and trusted only in himself to survive. Just as he had considered people who used weapons made by others to be borrowing strength that was not their own, Kor likely saw using the flight pack as having to place his trust, and his life, completely in the hands of the flight packs' designer’s ‘strength’. 

Despite how Kaden felt about Kor, mixed feelings and all, he managed a bit of sympathy for his companion’s situation. And, more importantly, he needed the armored Lombax to reach the next island in one piece, so he decided to try and be a bit more helpful this time.

The tan Lombax walked up placed his hand on Kor’s armored shoulder, "Hey, I know this is your first time using one of these," he offered, trying to sound as sincere and helpful as he was capable of. "When you first launch, you should try to-"

Without letting him finish, Kor smacked Kaden's hand away angrily, "I do not want your aid or your pity," he hissed dangerously. "There is no obstacle that I cannot overcome, especially if it is a task that ‘you're’ capable of."

The minor ounce of sympathy that Kaden had felt immediately dried up and he glared back into Kor's glassy eyes. 

Without saying a word, the tan Lombax raised both his arms into the air and stepped back.

Kor turned around once more and stepped aggressively onto the launch-pad, causing the wings on his flight pack to shoot out from his sides, ready for him to launch.

Kor looked up into the sky, his legs crouched low, ready to jump. However, it was only when he glanced back and saw Kaden still staring at him, one eyebrow raised, did the armored Lombax finally launch himself skyward.

To Kaden's surprise, Kor's take-off went quite well and it seemed as if all of his concern was for naught, but, after only a few seconds of stable flight, the signs of a problem began to appear.

The first issue was that Kor's flight path seemed to be dipping slightly. The flying Lombax sank low to the ground and, just when Kaden was about to radio him about it, he pulled up. 

The problem ‘then’ was that his reaction had overcompensated for this dip, so instead of falling, Kor was now going up at a far too steep a course, until he recognized this mistake as well and then turned too far back downward.

Kaden watched this cycle of skewed flight, followed by an overcompensated response, repeat again and again. Kor went up and down, left and right, and even managed to do a barrel roll, to everyone’s surprise. 

But there were several close calls where he almost hit the ground and even some where he almost went into the swamp!

Unable to watch (for too long), Kaden finally ran onto the launch-pad and jumped into the air in pursuit. 

Luckily though, Kor seemed to have mostly steadied out by the time he arrived.

"Are you going to be alright, Kor?" Kaden asked over the radio.

Kor's flight was still shaky, but now it at least seemed to be going mostly in one direction. 

After a few seconds of no response from the armored Lombax, Kaden chose to press forward and simply hope that there would be no further complications.

* * *

The progress of the group had been steady and good. 

They had only been flying for a few minutes, but they had already covered an immense amount of terrain. They were now deep outside of Kerchu territory and heading to where Kaden hoped they'd be able to find enough gelatonium to complete the mission without having to visit a fourth island or beyond.

From what he'd studied about Sargasso's geology, with reference to previously found gelatonium deposits, he believed that they had a very good chance at this next location. He kept himself from hoping too much though, as the previous islands were also supposed to have had a high probability of gel.

The group had so far flown low and close to the bubbling swamp in order to avoid the pterodactyls that occasionally flew through the sky above. It wasn't out of fear of being attacked, however; it was odd how docile the massive birds were when not fighting intruders to their nest. 

Rather, the danger of flying too close to them in the air was from accidentally bumping into one of them. Even a slight jolt would break the equilibrium of any of the group’s anti-grav particles and cause them to drop from the sky.

The island that was their goal was just now coming into view, "We'll be over the target island in just a minute," Kaden said over the radio to his four followers. "I want to land somewhere in the middle where orbital scans show a small tree grove we can use for cover. This will also mean that we can spread out, but still stay close to a central location. There are several high hills in the area we'll be approaching from, so everybody gain a little altitude, we don't want to be eating dirt before we get to the landing site."

At his command, the three Kerchu immediately began to rise higher into the air. Boogoh wobbled a little bit as he tried to follow the command and change course, but was soon back into a stable flight pattern with his caretakers. 

Kaden inwardly nodded his approval and began to rise as well, but he held up when he spotted something strange… Kor had yet to alter his flight path. 

"Kor, we're moving up," Kaden repeated over the radio.

There was no response.

Kaden then slowed his speed until he came alongside his armored companion. 

Kor looked up as if spotting Kaden for the first time, before his glass eyes swiveled around to search for the rest of the group, stopping once they’d spotted the Kerchu above.

It seemed to Kaden as if Kor had simply not been paying attention, "Kor, we're going up," he said once more, this time with a gesture of his thumb.

Kor looked at the gesture and simply nodded without replying on the radio. 

The armored Lombax then began to wobble dangerously as he tried to rise. It was far from a smooth maneuver, but he was at least accomplishing his goal.

Just as Kaden was about to go up as well, however, Kor suddenly came diving back down, flying shakily toward the murky swamp, before stopping himself and trying to climb once more.

For the next few seconds, Kaden watched with tense muscles as his armored companion fought hard to regain altitude. 

The next island was coming up quickly and if Kor was still too low, he might run into something solid, meaning he'd be permanently grounded and unable to retake flight. 

If that happened, they'd all have to land and join him, costing them precious time and energy as they trekked the rest of the way on foot to the target site.

Kaden did not want that to happen, so he readied his Swingshot. 

His plan was to tether onto Kor and pull the armored Lombax up. This was a risky move as the jolt might be enough to destabilize their packs' anti-grav particles, but if he could time it right it might just work, though, pulling this off would require considerable skill in how Kaden manipulated Kor's flight, similar to reeling in a large fish, but taking care not to break the line.

Kaden aimed his Swingshot at Kor, but the other Lombax saw this motion. 

Realizing what Kaden was about to do, he then waved his hand in a gesture that said he wanted no assistance. This caused Kaden to hesitate as he weighed his options. 

Kaden knew that if he chose to try and help, Kor's pride would be hurt, which would possibly lead to another confrontation when they landed, but, if he did nothing, Kor would likely crash and they'd all have to walk, which would suck.

Eventually, Kaden came to the decision that he’d just wait a little longer and see what happened next. If things got any worse, he could always use the swingshot as a last resort.

In those next few moments, Kor continued to struggle with his flight pack. Every time he managed to rise, it would be too fast and he'd overcompensate for the change by dropping back down again

_ 'Two steps forward, one step back,' _ Kaden thought with frustration.

Despite several of these setbacks, however, Kor did manage to raise his overall height just in time to pass safely over the hill that guarded the island's border. Kor was almost kissing the top of the tall dirt mounds as he passed over them, but he ultimately cleared them in the end.

Kaden let out a breath of relief and returned his gaze forward… before suddenly sucking it in again.

Just a few meters ahead of them, he had spotted a swarm of Grubsnuckers that were buzzing about the air, oblivious to the incoming group of fur-coated flyers. 

"Look out!" shouted Kaden over the radio, before immediately pulling up on his flight pack.

Kor spotted the creatures as well and he too pulled up hard, putting all of his efforts into simply going higher. 

The two Lombaxes rose through the sky rapidly. 

The Grubsnuckers had finally noticed them as they got close. 

They buzzed around angrily in response, ready to face any attack. One even tried to fire off a wad of acid, but the hissing orb reached the top of its arc way before it even came close to its targets.

Seeing that they were safe from danger, Kaden leveled out and breathed another sigh of relief.

Yet again he had relaxed too soon, realizing that Kor hadn’t stopped his ascent.

"Kor, level out," Kaden ordered over the radio.

Kor had put all of his focus into rising away from the enemy insects, allowing him to achieve what had eluded him over the swamp. In doing so, however, he had quickly lost all semblance of his bearings.

Higher and higher the armored Lombax climbed. 

Kaden tried to say something over the radio, but at this point, he knew that nothing would help. Even if Kor knew what was going on or what he should do, it was clear that he had little knowledge of how to do it.

At last, the tan Lombax decided it was time to use his Swingshot tether. He mentally mapped out Kor's likely trajectory as he rose up to try and intercept him, but, the moment he saw the flight path in his mind’s eye, panic set in as he realized that his armored companion was headed straight for a pterodactyl that was gliding lazily on a collision course.

Too late to issue a warning over the radio, Kaden could only watch as Kor slammed into the side of the giant dinosaur-bird. 

Much more docile when not protecting its nest, the pterodactyl paid the disruption little mind as Kor immediately broke the precarious equilibrium of his flight pack.

A moment later he was falling, this time in a helpless tailspin that took him straight to the ground. 

Then he landed with a loud smack that Kaden could hear all the way from where he was gliding above.

The still airborne Lombax then circled around the unmoving figure of Kor, trying to assess the situation. The flight packs were equipped with a safety feature that slowed sudden descents, so he doubted Kor was dead, though possibly injured. But to what extent he couldn’t tell.

The Kerchu group had also witnessed Kor's 'landing', "What do we do?" came Siigih's voice over the radio.

Kaden, having forgotten about he Kerchu entirely, took a moment to think, but the hesitation in his reply was mainly just so he could entertain the idea of simply leaving Kor behind. Ultimately, he knew what they had to do. 

"We'll have to land here," he said unhappily over the radio. "I'll land first and check on Kor, you guys give me a minute then follow me in."

Siigih confirmed the order and Kaden quickly dropped down low enough to touch the ground. The sudden jolt of his feet hitting dirt disrupted his flight pack and permanently grounded him just a few feet from where Kor was now gingerly getting to his feet.

At first, Kaden was angry at the situation, but then he recounted Kor’s poor flying and realized that things could have been a lot worse for a first time user, "Well, I can't say that it was a success, but at least we made it to solid ground," he admitted, trying to look on the bright side as he approached. "If you'd crashed in the swamp there'd be no way to get you out."

Just as Kaden had reached Kor, the armored Lombax turned on him so suddenly that he was unable to react before a hard, metal face was in his. 

"You believe this to be funny?!" Kor demanded aggressively.

_ 'Yes,' _ was Kaden's immediate thought, but Kor's rough tone and body language prevented those words from materializing, "I'm just saying, it was pretty lucky that you at least made it to the island before eating dirt. Better dirt than mud and tar."

This did not seem to be the right response as Kor brazenly shoved Kaden, a move which shocked the tan-furred Lombax and further clashed with the calm and composed image that Kor usually displayed. 

"Yes, I see!" laughed the emotionless mask without a trace of humor. "It is lucky because you never expected me to make it even this far on this death contraption!" 

Kor then threw off his flight pack angrily, slamming it into the ground with a thud.

At this point, Kaden's mind had caught up to the situation and it was not happy. He had been shoved, an advanced piece of equipment had been handled improperly, and he was being yelled at even as he tried to fight his own irritation for being forced out of the sky before reaching their target point and having his plans set back.

Kaden showed no fear as he retook the position he'd lost after being shoved and put his organic face right back into Kor's metal one, "You're absolutely right. In fact, I'm giving you some real credit here. I had my bolts on you not even making it off the first island!" Kaden shoved Kor in return, pushing the other Lombax backward a step as he met his companion's challenge, "I've seen children barely capable of walking who could fly better than you... that is, if you could even call what you did ‘flying’. If it weren't for my instructions over the radio, you'd probably be at the bottom of the swamp watching your oxygen supply tick away on your visor."

Kor turned his head and grunted through his mask in a way that sounded suspiciously like a sneer, "Help, from you?" he laughed mockingly. "I heard none of your pathetic 'instructions'. Besides, I'm sure if I had, I probably 'would' be under the swamp right now."

Kaden did not respond immediately, his mind had focused on something else that had angered him even more, "Are you telling me... that your radio was turned off?" he asked, in a much quieter tone that was somehow even more confrontational than his shouts.

Kor seemed to hesitate before replying, "I… I simply could not stand to hear your voice. It was hard enough controlling this moronic contraption," he explained with a light kick to the flight pack at his feet, "I did not need the added distraction of your grating tone in my ears."

However, Kaden had not even heard Kor's excuse, his mind was too busy trying to answer a puzzling question.

Keeping in contact was a top priority of any mission. He could not fathom what possible reason Kor would have had to turn off his radio at any time, let alone at a time where he was in an unfamiliar situation.

Even more puzzling, though, was Kor’s actions when Kaden took into account his whole ‘lost tail-servitude’ thing. If Kor was honor bound to obey his orders, then he’d never turn off his radio. Even Kor’s general attitude since they’d arrived at the launchpad went against reason.

As his mind searched for a legitimate explanation, Kaden suddenly realized that he'd never once heard Kor talk on the radio so far and cold anger ran through his veins.

"You don't know how to work your communicator... do you?" Kaden demanded in a menacingly quiet tone.

Kor did not look straight at the accuser as he answered, "O-of course I know how to work a radio," he replied without confidence, "I… just have issues with this NID thing you Demari put in my head."

Kaden was furious. It was clear that Kor had hidden his technical issues out of embarrassment, not wanting to admit his weakness, perhaps even hoping he could solve the issue himself before anyone noticed, but this was ten times worse than the mindless charge at anthropods. 

This time it wasn’t just brazen action or eagerness that had caused a momentary flaw in judgement. Despite all of his cool-headed, warrior bravado, Kor had consciously chosen to put himself and the mission at risk over something that was emotion based.

To Kaden, seeing his rival pull something like this was downright disappointing. It was much more upsetting to Kaden than he'd ever willingly admit, even to himself.

The more he thought about, the angrier he got... until he finally exploded.

The tan Lombax launched himself forward, grabbing Kor by his armored collar and yelling into his helmeted face, "You don't know how to control a flight pack, you don't even understand how to work your NID, and you're too stubborn to just admit it?!"

Kor was surprised by Kaden's sudden outburst, but not for long. The armored Lombax broke the grip on his collar with a single swipe of his arm before moving back a pace and eyeing his attacker cautiously.

"I didn't ask to have a computer drilled into my brain!" he argued defiantly. "But you Demari insisted that it was necessary for everyday life in your world."

Kaden was now shaking with anger, "I don't care if your NID is only a week old!" he countered. He had suspected that Red Lombaxes might not widely use NIDs as regular Lombaxes did, but it was no excuse. "You've had plenty of time to learn about it, more than that, you could have ‘asked’ me if you were having trouble. At the very least, you could have asked for help with the flight pack!” 

To Kaden, there was never a good excuse not to learn about something important and potentially life-changing. Knowledge was sacred to him and the very idea of pretending to know something that one didn’t have the first clue about was sacrilege to his logic-driven, information-obsessed mind.

“I thought you were all about getting stronger, so why don't you try to learn about advanced technology, or at least the stuff you're ‘using’?!" Kaden interrogated furiously.

Kor shook his head, “Strength only has meaning if I earn it myself. To be taught like some helpless child, that would be an insult.” 

Though Kor had said what he truly felt, his words were being driven by emotion. Deep down beneath his heavy helmet, he knew that Kaden was right and that he had acted disgracefully… but he was still an honor-obsessed warrior who was currently being shown up and belittled by one of his most hated enemies. 

"Besides, any help you could offer is just as likely to be a hindrance," he added pettily.

One of Kaden's eyes twitched and he began to shake his head back and forth, "That's it," he hissed more to himself than to Kor. There was a flash of light and Kaden suddenly had both his hands out to his side with balls of nuclear energy growing in each palm, "You're officially a danger to the mission."

Kor didn't hesitate to move back a few more steps and draw his malleus wrench, "I believe it is you who is the danger. Trying to fight me again? Your madness has finally pushed you past the brink. Perhaps the best way to aid you as one whose tail you hold is to restrain you."

The two eyed each other coldly, daring the other to make the first move.

"Ahem," coughed Siigih, who, along with his two Kerchu companions, had already landed and had been standing nearby unseen, wondering if they should interfere. 

Apparently, they had decided that they should as Siigih bravely made his way between the two, "I'm sorry to interrupt your, er… ‘conversation’, but there is a matter of importance I need to inform you of."

Kaden did not turn his eyes away from Kor, "What's wrong, Siigih?" he asked with surprising calm.

"It is that," the Kerchu answered, before pointing a finger into the distance.

Both Kaden and Kor slowly turned their heads in the direction Siigih was gesturing, but they both kept their eyes on each other for as long as possible. 

When they both finally shifted their sight toward the distance, the 'matter of importance' became crystal clear: the swarm of Grubsnuckers that Kor had disturbed a ways back were now rapidly heading toward them.

Kaden groaned, "Well that's just great, now we have more of your mess to clean up."

Kor grunted disdainfully through his helmet speakers, "I can take care of these creatures, you need not dirty your dainty fingers."

"There is a small outcropping of rocks just ahead," Siigih noted, more concerned about the hostility of the two Lombaxes than the oncoming creatures. "We should use them as cover to fight these beasts."

Kaden nodded his agreement, "Good idea, there's quite a few of them out there, so let's head for a better position."

Siigih returned the nod and turned around before quickly making his way toward the rock cover, with Reegeh and Boogoh joining him as he did so.

With his Nuclear Fists still charged, Kaden turned around as well. He took a few steps forward to follow his Kerchu companions, but stopped when he noticed Kor had not yet moved. 

"I didn't say that over the radio, so I know you heard me this time," the tan Lombax said to the motionless armored one.

"Indeed, I did hear you," Kor answered without turning his eyes from the approaching threat, "but as I said, I can take care of these creatures. You go hide your tail, I'll join you when this is finished."

Kaden ground his teeth and stomped his way back toward Kor while looking for the words to throw back at him. 

But, before he could say anything, his radio crackled.

"Um, Mr. Kaden?" intoned Siigih over the radio, after he'd realized the Lombaxes were not following behind him. "Are we not heading for the rocks?"

"Go on ahead and take cover, Siigih," replied Kaden calmly. "I'll be handling these guys."

Siigih was hesitant to leave his companions, but Reegeh appeared at his side and put a hand on his shoulder, "Best not interfere with a challenge between two creatures of destruction such as them," he said simply, and with a surprisingly understanding tone.

Reluctantly, Siigih nodded his agreement and together the three Kerchu continued on to the relative safety of the nearby rock cover.

Kaden raised one of his glowing Nuclear Fists and Kor laid his wrench across his shoulders.

"Be sure to make those two shots count," the armored Lombax advised. "I know how useless your attacks are when you don't have time to charge up your toys."

Kaden scowled at the off-hand insult and lowered his arm, "How about a bet then, Kor. Whoever kills the most enemies will be the winner."

Kor nodded his consent, "What will we wager, then?"

Kaden grinned sadistically, "Nothing. The misery you'll feel when you lose to me… again, will be all the reward I need."

Kor made a sarcastic laugh, "Hmm, very well," he agreed with no qualms about the arrangement. "I count five bugs in the first group and another ten behind them, fifteen total. Your attacks are good for three kills apiece... at best. If you manage to take all five of the first wave, you will still need three more for victory. You might get lucky, tossing those smaller orbs with your child-like throws, but you will never get three before I finish off the rest."

Kaden said nothing at first, "You've defied my expectations yet again, Kor," he said at last, with apparent amazement in his voice. 

Kor almost turned to face his opponent, curious about what he meant, but instead refrained. 

Kaden smiled to himself, having seen the slight twitch that told of Kor's interest, "I did not believe you were capable of simple math."

Before Kor could say another word, the roar of jets filled the air and Kaden was blasting off on his hoverboots a moment later.

Kor was surprised at first, but, admittedly, he was getting used to this happening and found himself chasing after the tan Lombax within seconds, almost on instinct.

As he'd already learned, he could not outrun his companion/opponent on hoverboots, but it did not matter who reached the fight first. As Kor had said, Kaden's attacks were powerful, but they took too long to recharge. Victory had been his from the start.

As he had this thought, however, the young warrior realized that, had this been true, Kaden would never have made the bet with him in the first place. As egotistic and arrogant as the tan Lombax was, he was not one who was likely to miscalculate.

Kor's fears then grew roots as he watched his opponent slide swiftly underneath the first wave of Grubsnuckers, easily outpacing their acid attacks, and ignoring them completely as he pressed forward.

A few seconds after that, Kaden came to a halt directly underneath the Grubsnuckers' second line. 

Ten fat balloon creatures fluttered in confusion above him as they tried to stop their momentum and redirect their aim downward.

Kaden fought the urge to laugh as he watched this comically awkward attempt. He needed to stay focused for what came next. 

Having been nearly humiliated when they’d faced the group of Grubsnuckers from yesterday, Kaden had not wasted the time since then and had used it to come up with a solution.

While the buzzing creatures milled about above him, bumping into one another as they all tried to attack at once, Kaden raised both of his glowing Nuclear fists.

With a simple thought, the claws in the tips of his gauntlet fingers extended out, much further than when he used his beam attacks. They stopped when they were about six inches long.

Curling his hands into as tight a ball as possible around the contained, but still volatile, nuclear reaction, Kaden crisscrossed the claws like some poorly designed strainer. With another thought, the magnetic fields around them shrunk until they only covered a few micrometers off of the claws themselves.

With the majority of its containment suddenly gone, the burning orbs of nuclear energy were instantly released. They burst from between Kaden's fingers with all the intensity of a sun, rattling the air with powerful twin booms, and shooting off rays of light in dozens of directions at once. 

It was as if a company of laser riflemen were unleashing a salvo in unison. 

The glowing beams ripped up into the mass of Grubsnuckers like some giant, energy shotgun, chewing through their balloon-like bellies as they went.

Kor had watched it all happen in mere moments. Every kill happened at the exact same time and when the bodies had all fallen, only three Grubsnuckers remained. Some even sported minor graze wounds that said they had only ‘just’ survived the attack.

However, despite the impressive display, Kaden looked disappointed. It was clear that he had intended to kill at least eight and win the contest with that first attack alone.

At this, Kor was both amazed and greatly relieved, just as he came within range of the first wave of Grubsnuckers. 

He jumped into the air and threw his wrench at the distracted creatures, killing one outright before catching his weapon on its return, and then relaunching it without touching the ground. 

Kor knew that he needed to finish the rest off before Kaden could get even one more kill in order to win, but, despite the frustration he felt at being so close to defeat, inside his helmet he couldn't help but smile.

His mind was always most clear when he had something to kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unstable-equilibrium - A short science lesson for you all. Equilibrium is a state in which all forces acting upon a single object are perfectly counterbalanced with each other (gravity pulling down, wind blowing sideways, an attached rope being pulled upward, etc.). If all forces applied to said object are equal, meaning they cancel each other out relative to their direction, an object is considered to be in ‘equilibrium’.   
> Stability is a measure of an object's ability to resist change enacted upon it. If you push sideways on a cube, it may move sideways slightly, using up all the energy it can through friction. If you tried the same thing with a ball, it would roll away. Thus, the cube is more stable than the ball.  
> The most common stability-equilibrium experiment is done with a ball and a track that goes up and down like a hill. If you put the ball at the top of the hill, it will likely fall down one of either side. While the ball is moving, it is considered ‘not in equilibrium’ as the force of gravity is greater than the frictional or normal forces, and is making it move because of this. It is also ‘unstable’ as, even if you stopped it, the moment you let go, it would move again.  
> When the ball is resting at the bottom of the track, in between two hills, it is considered both ‘in equilibrium’ as all forces equal out and ‘stable’ as any force acted on it would have to fight to move it and it would simply return to its previous state afterwards.  
> However, if you place the ball carefully at the top of one of the track’s hills, you can get it to balance so that it won’t fall down either side. The ball is then considered to be ‘in equilibrium’ because all forces are equal and it is not moving, but it is also considered ‘unstable’ because, if a force acts on it in either direction, it will then quickly slide down one side.  
> This how you should think of the unstable-equilibrium particles of the Lombax Flight Pack. The system excites molecules with energy and causes them to perfectly counteract gravity, but does so in such a way that an increase in force in any direction will break their equilibrium and cause the flyer to crash.
> 
> Six-axis - Kaden’s reference to the ‘six-axis’ control notification that pops up on his visor’s HUD is the same one that pops up when a player steps on a pad while playing Tools of Destruction on planet Sargasso. ‘Six-axis’, for those that have never played PS3, is a set of gyroscopes and accelerometers inside of the PS3 controller that measured what way the controller was turned. You maneuvered Ratchet’s flight path by tilting and turning your PS3 controller.


	11. A Quick Bite

The three Kerchu watched the battle unfold with fixed attention. This was the first time any of them had seen their Lombax counterparts in actual combat… not including when they fought against each other. 

It would have been awe-inspiring if it weren't for the fact that they were competing against each other rather than working as a team.

"They're so cool!" squeaked Boogoh, as he witnessed Kor take out two more Grubsnuckers with a single throw of his massive wrench.

Reegeh nodded his agreement somewhat begrudgingly, "I’ll admit, I would not wish to be on the other side of that fight."

It was hard for Reegeh, or any Kerchu warrior for that matter, to acknowledge the strength gap between themselves and any potential opponents. 

Reegeh in particular couldn't help but set his jaw tightly as he recalled his confrontational manner toward the armored Lombax Kor at the onset of their mission. At that time, he'd had every intention of settling their difference of opinion by force if need be.

Siigih shook his head as he watched, "I cannot understand those two. They work so well together, dispatching such a massive group of Grubsnuckers like it's a game, but they're at each other's throats every other second."

At this, Reegeh let out a short laugh, "Ha, I agree. The way those two go at it, you'd think they were mortal enemies with a bitter, hate-filled history against one another... or married. I've had troops under my command before who've disliked each other, but never like these two. Maybe it's a Lombax thing."

Siigih shook his head again, unsure, but deeply hoping that it was just a cultural difference. If it wasn't, the chances of everyone surviving this mission were not reassuring.

Boogoh barely heard any of his two handlers' conversation as he watched Kor manage to leap atop of a low-flying Grubsnucker, killing it with a quick swipe of his wrench without breaking his stride, before jumping off of it, going even higher into the air, and killing another one.

The scene was too much for the young Kerchu to bear from behind his cover and he tried to climb up the rock face he was hiding behind to get a better look. But, just as he crested the top, he slipped and fell back down, landing with a thud.

Siigih was over him within a second, picking him up and dusting him off, then lecturing him about safety within the next.

"It wasn't my fault," the tiny Kerchu pleaded, "The rock moved."

"Moved?" scoffed Siigih at the pathetic excuse. “Rocks don’t move!”

Before he could continue lecturing, however, Reegeh interrupted him. "Y-you're right," the larger Kerchu said, his voice little more than a hoarse whisper, "...‘rocks’ don't move."

As Siigih tried to comprehend what Reegeh was saying, a low, guttural growl shook the air around them and the largest boulder amongst their cover suddenly deflated to nearly two-thirds its size.

"Move away... slowly," ordered Siigih, his voice now nothing but a hoarse whisper as well.

But it was too late for that. The three Kerchu had barely made it two steps before another large rock, on the far side of the main boulder, began to move. This one seemed to raise itself up clear off the ground, before slowly turning around until it revealed the massive, two-horned face of a Grunthor.

The three Kerchu froze, like deer caught in headlights, as the groggy creature blinked its beady yellow eyes into wakefulness.

Suddenly, the creature's expression became alert and its jaw shivered as it growled again.

"Run!" shouted both Reegeh and Siigih at the same time.

The three were dashing away a second later and the beast let out an ear-shattering roar after them, which shook the very ground they ran on. 

They then felt the dirt quake further as the gargantuan beast thrashed about in an attempt to get to its feet as quickly as possible.

Knowing that they could not outrun a Grunthor at such a short range, Reegeh broke off from the other two and spun around to face it. 

Raising his Buzzblade launcher, the large Kerchu warrior fired it on full automatic and did not let go of the trigger.

Dozens upon dozens of razor-sharp blades flew forward from the weapon and burrowed themselves into the creature's skin, but the damage seemed negligible.

However, while the injuries seemed small from a tactical standpoint, it was not negligible with respect to how painful they were. 

The Grunthor roared with rage and agony as its glowing eyes narrowed on the pitifully tiny creature that had attacked it.

With one heavy stomp of its foot, the beast sent violent tremors through ground, knocking Reegeh from his feet with the force of their oscillation.

In the next instant, the Grunthor charged forward, its two massive tusks hefted out like tine lances, in an attempt to impale its prey. 

The Kerchu was quick though. He managed to roll away from the worst of it and avoided certain death, but still suffered an incredibly painful gash across his back, as the tusks nicked him, before sinking into the ground where he’d just been lying.

Not to be defeated easily, the large dinosaur swung its gargantuan head sideways, ripping up the ground with its spear-like protrusions, and sending Reegeh flying through the air. 

The Kerchu warrior sailed a good few meters away before landing with a thump.

The beast prepared to follow up with a finishing attack on its prey, but before it could, several more tiny Buzzblades came sailing through the air to bite into its skin. 

Siigih had been standing a short distance away when he'd fired, but he had already ensured that Boogoh was safely tucked away further behind him, otherwise he would not have engaged, even to save his comrade in arms.

The enraged Grunthor reared up on its hind legs and roared a challenge to its new enemy, before inhaling deeply.

Siigih recognized the action from holo-recordings and visits with Boogoh to the zoo. The Grunthor was about to spit a series of fireballs at him. 

The attack wasn't particularly hard to dodge, but if Siigih was not precise with his timing, the damage he'd suffer would be immense.

Just as the creature was about to launch its attack, a bright flash of light erupted into existence next to the Grunthor, followed swiftly by an ear-shattering boom.

The moment passed in an instant and the shaken beast roared in pain as its side sizzled with the sound and smell of charred meat. 

It turned again, angrily searching for the source of this newest attack, knowing instinctively that whatever had done it was by far the most dangerous of its prey.

However, the instant the cloud of dust and vaporized flesh had faded enough to reveal a clear shot, a large metal weapon slammed into his face, breaking through the weaker skull fragments around the eye sockets, and digging straight through to its brain. 

The creature did not have time to roar again, becoming suddenly silent instead, before slowly falling to the ground.

The dirt shook underneath Reegeh and Siigih as the large Grunthor finally collapsed. 

The two Kerchu looked at each other with disbelief, before turning as one to where their two Lombax companions stood some distance away.

"The weak point is always the eyes," said Kor informatively, with a nod toward the downed Grunthor.

While not intentional, he stood tall above Kaden, reveling in his victory.

Kaden scrunched up his face in irritation, "I know that," he spat back, angry that it wasn't his attack that had downed the creature and secretly impressed by Kor's swift and accurate throw.

At this, Kor turned to him and tilted his head to the side, "Oh? Then you may wish to practice your aim… unless you believe the creature's eyes to be on its side?"

Kaden growled angrily at the insult, "I don't want to hear that from the fool who crashed headfirst into the ground!"

Kor spun around completely and brought his masked face close to Kaden's, "No, but you will hear it from the one who killed the most," he pointed out.

"What do you mean by that?" the tan Lombax demanded, "I got the last bug! The Grubsnucker count is eight to seven."

Kor nodded his agreement, "Yes, but I killed the large lizard, so I win."

Kaden squinted back at his armored opponent for several long seconds, "That still only counts as one," he argued defiantly, "it's a tie."

Kor clenched his fists at Kaden's obstinance and was about to argue some more when the faint sound of buzzing caught his ears.

Kaden had heard it too and together they both turned to find one final Grubsnucker, off in the distance, as it slowly made its way toward them. It must have been lagging behind the main group, which was now lying in heaps of ripped and burnt meat strewn across the ground. 

The flying balloon creature, having been eagerly heading for its prey as quickly as possible, stopped its forward progress upon seeing the remains of its ilk. 

It also caught sight of the massive slain Grunthor even further away. 

Then, it finally locked eyes with the two bipedal creatures, one covered in fur and one in metal, that were watching it with intense gazes.

The two Lombaxes and the final Grubsnucker studied one another for several seconds. Both Lombaxes eyed it hungrily as the same exact thought crossed their minds. 

Suddenly sensing the immense danger that it was in, the bloated insect swiftly began flying back the way it'd come. Moving as fast as its stubby wings would carry it.

Immediately Kaden sent a Fastball chasing after the creature, but, as usual, the beast and its jittery movements managed to avoid the attack easily.

The tan Lombax growled in annoyance, while the armored Lombax laughed, "I guess you'll have to wait for your little toys to charge back up," he mocked gleefully, before pulling hard on his arm to summon his wrench back. "I'll take care of this one in the meantime."

However, when Kor tugged back on his arm, something felt odd. Usually, when he pulled back on his wrench with his MS node, he'd feel a slight tug and the weapon would return to him a moment later. This time, however, it felt as though his arm had been covered in training weights and, even after waiting several seconds, the weapon was nowhere to be found. 

The armored Lombax turned to find out what had gone wrong and saw, as he tugged again with his arm, that his weapon was firmly stuck within the Grunthor's skull cavity.

This time it was Kaden who laughed, "Aw, is your little swinging stick caught on a snag?" he mocked in return. "Guess you'll have to go get it yourself, won't you? Just like before ‘I’ upgraded your MS node."

Suddenly, both Lombaxes froze and their faces became stiff serious. Yet again, the same thought had crossed their minds.

They shared one last glance of mutual understanding with each other, before Kor took off, sprinting full speed, toward the dead Grunthor. At the same time, Kaden had begun to charge his Nuclear Fists. 

The race was on to see who could kill the final Grubsnucker and claim victory of… whatever the heck they thought were competing for.

Siigih was in the middle of helping his injured companion when Kaden called over the radio, "How's Reegeh?" the Lombax asked as he continued to charge his weapons.

Siigih had just finished checking Reegeh's injury. It was not deep and even his Kerchu-grade Nanotech would be able to repair it quickly, "He will be fine," Siigih replied, just as a blur of red armor flew past him.

Kaden was relieved at Reegeh's status, though it was not for completely admirable reasons. Likewise, Kor, who had made a slight detour in order to pass Siigih and Reegeh was equally relieved for equally less than admirable reasons. 

Knowing that their Kerchu companions were in no immediate danger meant that they could continue their competition.

Kaden watched as Kor reached his wrench, yanked it out of the Grunthor's head with a sickening squish of soft flesh and crunching bone, and immediately start sprinting back towards him. 

The closer the armored Lombax got, the tighter Kaden grit his teeth while also keeping an eye on the charge meter for his Nuclear Fists. It was growing steadily, but it felt much slower than usual. His muscles began to twitch and he became jittery as the time slipped by.

Just before the bars reached max, Kor whipped passed Kaden so fast that the armored Lombax barely had time to shout through his speakers, "Too slow."

Just as Kaden's mind registered the words and reacted with the appropriate amount of anger, his charge meter hit full and a short beep rang in his ear. 

A smile split the tan Lombax’s face and a moment later he was blazing forth on his hoverboots with his now stabilized nuclear reactions safely contained and ready in his hands.

Kor had made it almost halfway to the buzzing Grubsnucker by the time Kaden rocketed past him. Kor growled in frustration and tried to put on more speed, but no Lombax legs could keep up with foot-mounted jet propulsion.

Kaden’s grin was so wide after he’d left Kor behind that he almost swallowed a small insect. The target was just ahead of him and Kor was being left in his exhaust, victory was just within his grasp. All he had to do now was get close enough to use his Nuclear Shotgun.

Just as he came within range, however, Kaden spotted a small crevice in the ground up ahead. The Grubsnucker must have known it was here because it dove into the chasm without hesitation and disappeared from view.

Kaden brought his feet in front of him and poured on the thrust to try and slow him down before he too went down the sudden opening. He came to a stop just at its lip and peered down into its dark depths.

Desperately, he searched for signs of his quarry. He could hear the creature's incessant buzzing echo out of the abyss, but could see nothing of its body. Kor appeared at his side a moment later and the two just stood in silence for a moment.

"I am loathed to say it,” the armored Lombax growled through his helmet, “but it appears that this match is a draw." 

Kaden's eyes did not move from the crevice as he shook his head, "No. I’m ending this now."

There was a flutter of movement in the dark, just barely on the edge of perception. It was just as likely that the flutter was a trick of the light and Kaden's eyes, but he didn’t care. 

The tan Lombax raised both his glowing palms and pointed them directly at where he'd seen the motion and fired.

Kaden and Kor then watched as the Nuclear Fist blast cut a bright path through the air as it went deeper into the darkness, bringing light with it as it did. 

For an instant, a startled Grubsnucker face was illuminated with light, then the orb destabilized and exploded in a massive, fiery blast.

The first thing that went through Kaden's mind, as he watched his attack detonate, was that he needed to get away from the crevice. The explosion would be a powerful one in and of itself, but when squeezed between two narrow walls of rock, it was going to shoot up back to the mouth of the gap with a lot of force.

The tan Lombax managed to grab the collar of his armored companion, who was clearly shocked to have seen their target in that brief instant.

The second thing that went through Kaden's mind, as he pulled Kor back from the crevice opening just in time to avoid a wall of heat and dust, was a glorious sense of triumph from the knowledge he'd won the contest. 

There was no way that the Grubsnucker had survived such a close call, meaning the final kill was his and the score was 'officially' nine to eight.

The third thing that went through Kaden's mind, after both he and Kor were thrown clear off of their feet, as the ground beneath them shook so violently that even the nimble Kor couldn't keep his footing, was that his twin Nuclear Fist blasts could never have had this much power.

Nearly a thousand feet in either direction, Kaden watched as cracks split the ground, causing dozens of glowing lines to snake their way through the dirt. Each one then billowed walls of steam and smoke with so much force that some of them even whistled.

Here and there, a few of fissures had combined to form a crude circle in the ground and the chunk of rock at its center jutted up like a ten-ton cork, before even more steam came billowing out around it.

The ground continued to shake so much that there wasn't even any point to Kaden trying to stand again. Instead, he used his hands almost equally to his feet as he crawled away from the steam vents and erupting dirt mounds.

It was a full minute before the shaking eventually stopped.

As if someone was pulling back the curtain on a play, the world was slowly made visible again as the clouds of smoke and steam died out. 

Kaden and Kor looked around in cautious awe as they noted that the mostly flat area they'd just been fighting in was now a wasteland of upturned chunks of dirt and rock. 

Most stunning of all, however, was the silence that remained.

This silence was broken shortly after that by Siigih on the radio, "What happened?!" questioned the slightly panicked Kerchu. "Are you alright?"

Siigih and his group were just outside of the area that had been affected by the violent, geological shift. To them, it had appeared like Kaden and Kor had been swallowed up by the planet itself.

"We're fine," answered Kaden with a quick glance to Kor to check on his companion’s status. "There must have been some swamp gas under the area that ignited."

"What could have caused such a massive deposit of gas to explode like that?" Siigih pressed with concern, though slightly calmer now.

Kaden did not answer right away, "Erm… There's no way to know for ‘certain’, really. It could have been several factors, like pressure or a rock shift of flint causing a spark, maybe even a vein of magma made its way up here close enough to ignite the deposit. I don't know for sure, but what's important is that it looks like it’s burned itself out and no one was hurt."

By the time Kaden had finished his 'explanation', Kor had made his way over to him, "It would seem that the most likely cause was a highly volatile, explosive attack that was launched into the caverns where the gas was stored,” he noted with an air of judgment.

Kaden eyed his companion warily, "That's a very good observation, Mr. Kor. You should add that to the conversation… oh, wait! You can't because you don't know how to work your radio."

Kor growled softly at the slight, but did not particularly care about assigning blame at the moment. The whole event was really no big deal to him. Such things happened quite often on his home island.

After things had settled, it only took the two of them a few seconds to make their way out of the newly born rock formations. 

Once out, they spotted Siigih helping Reegeh to his feet. The large Kerchu appeared to have recovered now and was eager to prove that he was still fine to continue.

The two groups waved as they came closer to each other, "Where's Boogoh?" questioned Kaden when they were within earshot.

"He is taking shelter in that rock outcropping further back," answered Reegeh.

"I told him to hide there while I returned to aid Reegeh against the Grunthor," added Siigih.

Kor tilted his head to one side as he studied the far-off outcropping in question, "Are you certain that they are actually rocks this time?" he asked.

Siigih smiled solemnly, the question was justified, "I did make sure of that, at least, before I left him."

Kaden nodded his understanding, "Well, now that the crazy has stopped, let's go pick him up and get on with the mission."

Three heads returned his nod in complete agreement and they all set out toward the rocks.

Barely had they walked ten steps, however, when the ground started rumbling again. All four of them stopped and fought to keep their balance.

"What is this?" wondered Siigih aloud, "An aftershock?"

"It can't be," countered Kaden. "The first one wasn't an earthquake."

"Then what is causing this?" demanded Kor, suspicious that it was somehow Kaden's fault too.

Kaden knew what Kor was thinking and opened his mouth to retaliate, but before he could speak… they got their answer.

As if a volcano of mud had erupted from back where the crevice had been, a massive wave of dirt came spewing forth in the distance, before raining down on the four of them. Several large chunks slammed into the ground with terrifying force and some smaller ones even struck them, but not one of the group even noticed.

No one noticed the rocky shower because they were all staring fixedly to what had caused the eruption.

Towering over them, over two stories high, stood a fully-grown and very angry Sargassian Wigwump. Its worm-like body bristled as it shook off the dirt and flexed two rows of stubby, chitin-covered legs.

The creature scanned the area with its glowing, yellow eyes and it wasn't long before all ten of them were pointed directly at the small, frozen group of surveyors below.

The massive beast then opened its powerful, rock-crushing jaws and roared challengingly at them, revealing a large, glowing tonsil that it used to see underground and catch prey.

After the moment of shock had passed, Kaden sighed deeply and shook his head with a tired look on his face, "Whelp… today's just been one big kick in the tail."


	12. More Than You Can Chew

The massive subterranean worm towered high into the air from where it had emerged.

Having received no response from its earlier roar of challenge, it stared at the distant figures with all ten of its glowing eyes, remaining eerily still as it tried to discern if what it was looking at had caused the enormous shock wave that had disturbed it.

Reegeh, Siigih, Kaden, and Kor all gripped their weapons tightly, the four of them feeling fear, terror, irritation, and excitement respectively.

"Don't move,” ordered Kaden in a hushed voice. "It has poor eyesight, but it can detect vibrations in the ground very well. If we don't make any movements or sounds we should be safe."

The group obeyed the command and tried to stay as still as possible. However, the wigwump was not turning away from them. It seemed to be squinting its ten eyes to try and see them more clearly.

Seemingly having made up its mind, the creature roared once more at the group before leaning forward and slamming into the ground with such force that the four of them could feel the dirt shake under their feet.

Kor gave Kaden a sideways glance and the tan Lombax shrugged, "I said 'should'."

The wigwump proceeded to dig into the ground, but it did not submerge completely. About half its body remained visible as it began moving forward.

Rocks and vegetation were thrown into the air like the waves left behind in the wake of a boat moving through the water as it swam through the dirt toward them at an alarming speed.

"What now?!" demanded Siigih, on the verge of panic. If there was one thing that a Sargassian Kerchu knew to fear, it was a wigwump.

Kaden chewed his lip calmly as he pondered the question and the large worm monster drew closer, "Try not to get eaten?" he offered half-heartedly with a scratch of his head. The tan Lombax then ignited his hoverboots and quickly moved out of the wigwump's path.

Without hesitation, Kor took off as well, running in the opposite direction as his fellow Lombax.

Their fear overriding their surprise by the situation, the two Kerchu scrambled about in confusion for a moment, but then followed Kaden's lead by curling up into their armored shells and rolling away in two more separate paths.

As it tore through the ground towards them, the giant worm watched its prey split up into four directions, forcing it to focus on one at a time instead.

Compared to the other three, the heavily-armored Lombax, having nothing more than its legs to propel him, was clearly the slowest of the group, making the wigwump's choice obvious.

When Kor had first sighted the wigwump, as it had emerged in the distance, he had felt excitement at the possibility that he'd get to fight such a strong-looking creature.

Now, as he ran for all he was worth, the smallest bit of that excitement turned to concern. It had only taken him one glance backward to spot the raging monster, now on his tail, and he quickly realized the direness of the situation he was in.

Despite Kor's speed, the wigwump was catching up to him quickly. It was almost an insult to him that a creature of such size was capable of digging faster than he could run, but at the moment he had bigger things to worry about than his ego.

Evasive maneuvers didn't help either. No matter which way he turned, or what hill he ran up or down, the wigwump was so large that it didn’t even appear to be adjusting its course.

He even tried to run through a rocky outcropping, made up of fairly large boulders, but the massive creature simply tore through them, sending them scattering like bowling pins.

As the wigwump closed in eagerly on its prey, its truck-sized jaws opened wide. A large glowing tonsil, used to light up the dark tunnels it lived in, hung from the creature's throat.

The light from the tonsil was casting Kor's shadow across the ground in front of him as he ran. Kor didn’t even have to turn around to know his situation now. As the wigwump came ever closer, the long shadow began to shrink closer to him, becoming a sort of death clock that would toll the moment it touched his feet.

The ringing that followed, however, was not that of the Lombax warrior's final bell.

Instead, a loud boom shook the air and nearly knocked Kor off his feet.

The next sound was that of the wigwump shrieking angrily as pain shot across its head from the large burn mark that the powerful explosion had left behind.

Instantly forgetting about its prey, the massive worm monster quickly reoriented itself and began searching for the source of the sudden attack. Its ten glowing eyes wasted no time in settling on the tan-furred Lombax that stood a moderate distance away. The tiny creature had two arms stretched out toward it. Steam was wafting off of the first arm while a small orb of energy roiled angrily in the other.

A moment later, that same ball of energy was sent zipping toward the wigwump, crossing the distance in under a second, before slamming squarely against its forehead and exploding.

Despite a direct hit to its face, the wigwump's rage was able to push through the new blossom of pain that it felt and the gargantuan creature was digging its way towards Kaden a moment later as if the second hit had never happened.

Kaden was surprised to see the giant worm brush off his attack so casually. It made him regret attacking it for a whole other reason than for simply helping Kor. He didn't have time to dwell on it, though.

The tan Lombax quickly spun on his heels and activated his hoverboots. The wigwump was fast, but it didn't have a hope of catching up to a rocket-propelled Lombax.

To make matters worse for the wigwump, the two Kerchu, who had taken up position on either side of it, were now adding their Buzzblade fire into the mix.

In truth, the wigwump's thick skin made the tiny prickling of the blades almost unnoticeable, but, when one of the dozens of tiny saws found a soft spot, the giant creature reared up and roared in pain, angrily squinting its remaining nine eyes through the agony.

The wigwump thrashed about violently in response to its suffering, shaking the ground as it did.

When the initial pain had worn off, however, it reoriented and turned to go after the nearest Kerchu, one of which, it knew, had taken out its eye.

Suddenly, a heavy metallic object slammed hard into the wigwumps skull, leaving two small dents in its armored skin.

Through the spinning sensation that the impact had caused, the wigwump could just make out the sight of the Malleus Wrench that had struck it being caught by the armored creature that it had originally gone after.

Despite the creature's rage and frustration, even it knew that the current situation was not in its favor. With one last roar of defiance, the giant creature dove headfirst into the dirt and dug for all it was worth.

Within just a few seconds, it had disappeared completely.

As silence settled over the ravaged area, the four team members looked around cautiously. It seemed as if they'd won, though no one dared to believe it.

"D-do you think it's gone?" asked Siigih, breaking the silence over the radio.

"Haha, I bet it's running scared!" laughed Reegeh, the thought of defeating a feared wigwump striking a chord with the Sargassian native's pride.

"Maybe, but we shouldn't let our guard down just yet," warned Kaden as he scanned the horizon for any signs of danger.

As he did so, his eyes landed on a peculiar sight. In the distance, Kor was prone on the ground with his head pressed against the dirt.

"Kor, what are you doing?" Kaden asked curiously over the radio. There was no response. "Kor, I said what are you- Ugh! Council help me!" he groaned as he suddenly remembered.

Kaden ignited his hoverboots once more and set a blazing trail toward his armored companion. Kor did not move or show any signs of noticing him as he approached.

When Kaden was only a few feet away, he cut his hoverboots and began walking the rest of the distance.

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could even say a word, Kor was barreling toward him at full speed. Kaden barely had time to register what was happening, despite the recurring theme, before he was being lifted into the air by the force of the collision.

Kor carried his tan-furred counterpart nearly five feet with his momentum alone, and the two of them hit the dirt just as the ground they'd previously been inhabiting erupted like a geyser, spewing forth mud, rock, and one very angry wigwump.

The large creature snapped its jaws shut, clearly expecting there to be something edible within them. To its dismay, however, the only thing it tasted was more rock and dirt.

Realizing that its prey had escaped, the towering worm swiveled its head and found what it was looking for while the two Lombaxes scrambled to get back on their feet.

The wigwump leered over the two and opened its jaws wide. It then leaned forward further, as if about to strike downward and take a bite, but the moment it did so, an explosion, much smaller than the first two it had experienced, went off inside its mouth.

Despite being weaker, the burst of nuclear energy from the Fastball went off in a much more vulnerable location.

The wigwump roared with more pain, but the overall damage was minimal. Unfortunately for Kaden, a wigwump's mouth was coated with heavy, insulating mucus and was almost completely fireproof.

The reason for this trait of evolution was made apparent in the next few seconds as the creature regurgitated a stomach full of molten rock in response to the Fastball attack.

Siigih and Reegeh watched in horror as a flood of glowing red lava poured forth from the wigwump's mouth, covering the figures of Kaden and Kor completely in a mound of liquid rock. Once the stream stopped, the glowing ooze quickly cooled black and hardened.

Seeing that its attack had more or less succeeded, the wigwump slunk back down into its tunnel, disappearing from view once more.

The two Kerchu ran as fast as they could toward the now solid heap of rock that had been left behind. They both doubted Kaden had survived, but Kor's fully encased body might protect him long enough for them to get him out, though neither knew how they'd accomplish this feat.

The answer was unnecessary, however, as the mound of rock exploded just before they'd reached it, revealing two Lombaxes, completely untouched by any lava.

Kaden lowered his arms and shook them to dissipate the heat that had collected in his gauntlets. Holding back all that lava had really taxed his repulsor fields. He made a mental a note to try and avoid blocking any more lava attacks in the future.

"Just so you know, they cancel each other out," the two Kerchu overheard Kaden saying to Kor.

The armored Lombax shook his head, "I saved you from being eaten alive," he replied.

"And ‘I’ saved you from taking a lava bath," Kaden countered.

Kor reached down a scooped a handful of gooey rock, "This is lukewarm at best. I told you before… I've survived worse."

“How about when the thing was chasing you earlier?” Kaden pressed further.

Kor stiffened slightly, but he did not respond.

Siigih took a wary step forward, careful not to put his foot on any igneous material, "Um, not that I'm not glad to see you two are well, but what are we going to do about our little worm problem?"

Kaden and Kor turned to their Kerchu companions as if just now realizing they were there. Kor nodded before kneeling down again and putting his head to the ground once more.

Kaden recalled how Kor had tackled him out of danger just as the wigwump had emerged and then put two and two together, "You're actually listening for when that thing will resurface, aren't you?" he asked, almost wishing it wasn't true simply for the sheer ridiculousness of the concept.

Kor did not respond at first, so the four of them sat there in silence for a bit.

Then, as if being struck by lightning, Kor jumped up and shouted, "Scatter!"

The four of them immediately did just that and, sure enough, a few moments later the wigwump burst from the ground again, chomping at air and spinning around to find its prey.

This time, however, the group was ready for it.

Balls of nuclear energy, dozens of Buzzblades, and the powerful force of a heavy wrench slammed against the creature before it even had a chance to perform another lava attack.

Surprised by the stiff resistance it found above ground, the wigwump snarled angrily before sinking back under again.

When it was gone, Kor put his head back to the dirt and listened.

After a long few moments of silence, Kaden breathed heavily as he spoke, "Can you tell if it's left for good this time?" he asked of his armored companion.

"It has not left," Kor answered assuredly. "It is likely resting for now, but the vibrations couldn't have been more than fifty feet away when they stopped, so it must be waiting to strike again. Perhaps it is waiting for us to lower our guard."

Kaden looked around pensively, "Hmmm, it came up after I used my hoverboots and stopped. Then it came up after the four of us regrouped and stopped moving."

Reegeh went to step forward, but then, realizing what Kaden had just said, thought better of it, "What does it matter if we know when it will attack? Our weapons do little more than irritate it. Wigwumps have been known to hunt a single prey for three days straight without rest."

Kaden rubbed his chin and nodded his agreement, "Then we'll just have to use some bigger guns," he concluded simply. Reegeh was about to ask what he meant by that, but Kaden continued before he could, "I've got a plan," he began hesitantly as he looked around, "But I'm going to need... bait."

* * *

"This is a bad idea," noted Reegeh for the third time as he, Siigih, and Kor prepared to make their move. "And are you sure your radio is working now?" he added toward Kor, jumping at any possible flaw in the plan he could find.

The armored Lombax, his head against the dirt nearby, didn’t answer.

Siigih sighed, "Mr. Kor has already explained that Mr. Kaden has resolved the technical issues he was having with his radio," answered Siigih, though, in truth, he too cared for the plan about as much as Reegeh. "Besides, you said it yourself. The wigwump will hunt us for days without rest. If we don't take care of it while we can, we might not make it out of this swamp at all."

Reegeh just shook his head, "Our lives all hinge on whether that nutcase can really pull off what he said he could. Are you really ready to trust his abilities that much?"

"Yes," interrupted Kor firmly.

It was meant as both an answer to Reegeh's question and a message to cease needless talk. They must prepare for the task at hand.

It worked well, as both Reegeh and Siigih fell silent and got down into their sprinting stances.

When they were both ready, Kor put his ear back to the ground and waved his hand forward.

At that signal, Siigih and Reegeh took off as fast as they could in two different directions.

Kor listened carefully to the sound of movement underground. It took only a few moments for something to happen and it was clear that the wigwump had taken notice of Siigih’s and Reegeh's seemingly panicked and desperate movements.

Kor focused intensely on the vibrations, trying to gauge what direction the creature was headed in.

"Siigih!" he eventually shouted over his newly functioning radio.

At hearing his name being called, the tall Kerchu froze and waited with bated breath.

Kor continued to listen for the sudden change of pitch that would indicate that the wigwump was speeding upward and preparing to surface.

"Now!" he shouted.

Siigih immediately curled into a metal ball and rolled away, just in time to avoid the massive wigwump's emergence.

Reegeh wasted no time in opening up with his Buzzblades, pouring dozens of metal disks onto the creature, without giving it time to reorient itself.

To the group's surprise, however, the wigwump did not stay long. Instead, it retreated back into its hole without so much as a threatening roar.

Kor didn't hesitate. He quickly pressed his head to the ground and once again listened carefully.

He barely had time to gather his wits either, as the high pitch of rapid, subterranean movement reached his ears in an instant.

"Reegeh, move!" Kor shouted over the radio.

Copying Siigih's movements, Reegeh also rolled to safety just in time to avoid the wigwump.

Copying Reegeh's moves, Siigih then poured Buzzblade fire onto the wigwump to distract it.

Copying its own moves, the wigwump re-submerged without putting up a fight.

Kor was still not used to controlling his radio with his NID and he’d forgotten to turn it off from the last time he’d used it. This meant that his angry, metallic growl of frustration was transmitted to everyone else, causing both Reegeh and Siigih to ponder which creature they feared more.

In order for their plan to work, Kor needed the wigwump to stay still for a mere few seconds, but it seemed to now be favoring rapid, hit and run tactics. If he could not get the creature to stay and fight, he will have failed to complete his part of the task and that did not sit well with him.

"Stay where you are and do not move," commanded the seething Lombax over the radio.

Both Reegeh and Siigih obeyed the order and stood where they were while watching Kor curiously. While both were worried about the wigwump that stirred beneath their feet, neither was very keen on questioning their heavily armored companion at the moment.

Likewise, Kor was not in the mood to explain anything.

Gripping the handle of his wrench tightly in his hands to reaffirm its weight, he took a deep breath. The Lombax warrior then bent down into a sprinting pose and took off, running in a third direction, away from either Kerchu.

Kor sprinted at full speed until he had decided that he'd moved a good enough distance away. He then skidded to a halt, kicking up dust and dirt as he did, and immediately put his ear to the ground.

He was immediately greeted by the sound of intense movement coming straight at him… just as he'd hoped.

After taking a moment to gauge the timing, Kor stood back up and hefted his wrench in both hands. He then bent down into a crouch and jumped into the air as high as he could.

The ground beneath him disappeared as his armored boots left it, cracking and splitting to move aside for the massive, open jaws that pushed their way through.

Kor saw this horrifying image suddenly appear below him, but he did not feel fear towards it, only determination.

Swinging down with all his strength, the armored Lombax executed a perfect hyper-strike with his massive Malleus Wrench.

The face of the wrench struck the face of the wigwump and the impact was so powerful that it knocked the creature off course, forcing its jaws to close slightly and miss its target completely.

Kor then landed with his boots firmly against the creature's head, before launching himself back into the air and landing on the ground as the wigwump roared in disoriented pain.

Seething with rage, the wigwump did not retreat this time. Instead, it thrashed its tail around in its hole, breaking up the dirt and rock in the immediate area.

Kor felt the ground beneath his feet split and give way and he was forced to scramble out of the wigwump's range.

When he finally got to stable ground, however, he looked up to find the leering face of the giant worm looking down at him. From Kor’s perspective, its highly visible rows of teeth almost appeared to be smiling.

The wigwump opened its jaws wide once more and the bright glow of its tonsil lamp was matched only by the softer, but somehow even more noticeable glow of the lava that sat in the back of its throat and on the verge of being unleashed.

For Kor's part, he did not move. If he had tried to evade the attack, the wigwump might decide to retreat again, so he needed to stay within its range.

He wasn't concerned though, the creature had been still long enough…

The force of the blast’s approach was so intense that Kor had thought it had gone off before it had actually connected with its target. The sound of the atmosphere being superheated as the massive ball of energy burned a path through the sky was as if a giant steam whistle were going off in his ears.

This whistle had crescendoed as it traveled all the way from where Kaden had released it to where it landed against the side of the wigwump.

When the glowing ball of the Nova Blast ‘did’ finally reach its target, the sudden release of so much compressed nuclear energy created a shockwave so powerful that it blasted Kor clean off his feet and sent him flying through the air as if caught in a tornado of piercing hot fire that reached him even through his suit. It was a sickeningly familiar sensation.

Silence instantly fell over the entire area, but it was not a silence created by a lack of sound.

The explosion had been so large and so powerful that its single, long whoosh of displaced air had overridden all other sounds, creating an impenetrable wall of white noise.

After several seconds, when the shaking had passed and the dust began to settle, the massive form of the wigwump was still standing, but not unfazed.

The creature’s entire side was a tapestry of burnt flesh and shattered chitinous plates. Pieces of its armored hide lay shattered and smoking across the ground and the silhouette of the creature itself wobbled drunkenly in the dust cloud that had still not settled. No longer roaring its angry challenge, the behemoth now only moaned a soft, defeated tone that was filled with suffering and confusion.

In the distance, Kaden breathed heavily with his still smoking Quantum Fist held out in front of him. He hadn't been in the proper mindset to notice last time, but every electrical wire in his suit burned white hot against his fur from the intense amount of energy it took to discharge such a colossal attack. He'd drained all three of the main power cells that ran his suit's systems with that attack and was now relying on his backup.

Still, he smiled in spite of it as the distant image of the battered wigwump revealed itself through the dirt fog. From the wailing, he knew that the beast was not dead, but even so, he was still impressed with his weapon's performance.

"What in the ( _Translation not found_ ) was that?!" demanded Reegeh over the radio.

Kaden laughed and took a breath to answer, but it was Kor who replied, "A powerful weapon," he stated simply. "If you can not see for yourself, I can vouch for its effectiveness."

Down on the ground, Kor inspected the creature as he gingerly got back to his feet. Its wound was magnificent, considering that all their other attacks had done little more than agitate it. Still, the creature was not dead yet and Kor knew from experience that any fight was not truly over until his opponent's heart ceased to beat.

But, as the armored Lombax hefted his wrench for the final blow, the ground started to shake gently and the large worm began to slide weakly back into its hole.

Kor was not one to let prey slip away, but even for its size and the state it was in, the wigwump still moved quickly and was completely submerged before the armored Lombax reached the precipice of its crater.

Kor stood over the wigwump’s burrow and stared angrily into the darkness below. In the end, he wasn't even able to finish it off and that weighed heavily on his warrior's conscience.

Immediately, he bent down and put his ear to the ground, but when he finally got a lock on the sound of subterranean movement, he was amazed to find that it was moving away... far away.

"What's the word?" asked Kaden over the radio.

"I cannot be sure, but I do believe that it is retreating," answered Kor, somewhat disappointedly.

"Yaaaaa-hoo!" shouted Reegeh over the radio. "This'll be a tale to tell on my next duty leave. Ho-ho, the boys back home are never gonna believe that we faced down a wigwump and got away without a scratch."

"I agree," added Siigih, relief evident in his tone. "Retelling this experience will be of great value to my fellow caretakers."

Reegeh smiled knowingly, "Haha, don't try to hide behind fancy talk," the large Kerchu chided in-between his laughter. "You and I both know that there ain't a female on Sargasso that can resist a man who's counted the eyes of wigwump and lived to talk about it."

Siigih scoffed at the accusation, "Do not lump me in with the likes of you, Reegeh. I do not share your deluded plots and schemes."

Reegeh squeaked, though Kaden was sure it was supposed to be a Kerchu snigger, "So then… you ‘weren't’ just thinking of telling Maagah all about this the moment we get back?"

Siigih suddenly began coughing violently over the radio, "W-well, she is a close colleague in the administration. I-it would not be unusual for me to speak of it to her."

Kaden joined in on the laughter, "Haha, yeah. It almost makes me glad I accidentally ignited that gas chamber."

The radio suddenly when silent, "You what?" asked Siigih and Reegeh simultaneously.

Kaden immediately regretted his slip of the tongue and set out on damage control without hesitation, "Well yeah, I mean, the Grubsnucker was getting away and accidents happen…" Kaden then trailed off as he noticed something odd. "Kor, what are you doing?" he questioned curiously.

The armored Lombax in question had suddenly taken off running without warning.

"The wigwump!" he shouted breathlessly over the radio, revealing how strained his current pace was as he ran full tilt toward the horizon.

"What?" pressed Kaden in confusion.

The tan-furred Lombax then followed Kor's trajectory and when he saw where Kor was headed, his stomach dropped and he was blazing across the valley floor on his hoverboots less than a second later.

* * *

Boogoh had managed to get to the top of the tallest boulder just in time to watch a massive explosion rip through the horizon, nearly blinding him as it blotted out the wigwump's form, and the whole northern direction, with its bright light.

When the young Kerchu was finally able to see again, the sight of a badly hurt and defeated wigwump was what greeted him first.

Boogoh's still dazed eyes twinkled with excitement. The very idea of defeating a creature as dangerous and destructive as a wigwump was nothing but a fantasy to most Kerchu. To see his two guardians and his Lombax companions able to pull off such a feat was like watching a legend being born.

The young Kerchu leaned forward excitedly as he saw the red-armored form of Kor going in for the finishing blow.

However, just as he was about to witness the finale, his foot slipped on the boulder and the small creature went tumbling downward, slamming into the dirt with a thud a moment later.

It only took a few seconds for Boogoh to reorient himself, though. He quickly got to his feet before desperately scrambling to get back up the boulder. He'd never forgive himself if he missed the conclusion to such an epic event.

He swiftly climbed up the rock's face once more, but in his eagerness, he slipped again and came crashing back down, kicking up dirt and dust as he raced to try again even before coming to a full stop.

After two more failed attempts, the young Kerchu gave up on trying to get back on top of the tallest boulder and settled for the shorter one he'd been watching from earlier.

The young Kerchu threw himself up over the boulder's top and quickly got to his feet. To his dismay, however, the wigwump was gone and the fight was clearly over.

Boogoh scowled and began stomping his foot down angrily onto the boulder in disappointment as many young Kerchu did when they threw a tantrum. He only stopped once he had noticed that Kor was suddenly running towards him.

Curious, Boogoh tried to wave at him, but a light rumbling that came from the boulder he was standing on drew his attention away.

Then, a moment later, the ground erupted beneath his feet.

The young Kerchu, the boulder, and the ground that they'd both just been standing on, were all thrown skyward, creating a chaotic whirlwind of dirt and dust as the massive form of the wigwump surfaced once more.

Boogoh flailed around in a panic, but he had nothing to grab onto as he sailed straight upward.

Below him, the giant worm's massive jaws opened wide and when the tiny Kerchu had finally reached the peak of his arc, he began falling back down again, where the wigwump waited open-mouthed.

The four remaining group members watched in horror as the tiny, terrified form of Boogoh reflexively curled himself into a metal ball, but was swallowed whole regardless.

Explosive balls of energy and hundreds of metal Buzzblades rained down on the beast as the group charged forward, but, as its gaping maw sealed shut, the large creature almost seemed to smile before sliding back down into the ground and disappeared from sight for the last time.

Even after the wigwump was long gone, both Siigih and Reegeh ran at full speed towards the hole it left behind, both knowing that there was nothing left that they could do, but neither willing to accept it. Their bodies were compelled to move by pure adrenaline and shock.

When they did finally reach the endless pit of darkness, however, their minds finally caught up with the situation and they fell to their knees, mouths hanging open in disbelief.

A cold silence then fell on the area which seemed to last an eternity.

It was Reegeh who was first to break the quiet. He slammed his fist into the dirt so hard that he likely fractured something, but he felt nothing of it.

He grit his teeth in both rage and sadness, "I swore that I would protect him!" he seethed painfully. "I bowed to his father and swore on my life that I would protect him!"

The large Kerchu gripped the edge of wigwump burrow tightly, sending chunks of dirt falling into its dark depths. It looked to anyone as if he might jump in after the wigwump at any moment.

Siigih simply stared down the hole blankly, "I-I've been the young master's caretaker since the day he was born," he choked softly, his voice not trying to be heard by anyone. "It's been my responsibility to watch over him, to teach him and protect him, ever since…" Siigih lowered his head and nearly touched his forehead to the ground at his knees, "I am so sorry. I'm so sorry my little ( _Translation Not Found_ )."

Kor watched the two Kerchu as they continued to peer aimlessly into the abyss in mourning and he empathized with them, but his attention was soon drawn to something else.

A short distance away, Kaden was busily assembling another Crust Piercer.

"What are you doing?" questioned the armored Lombax as he approached his companion.

Kaden didn't turn away from his work as he spoke, "What does it look like I'm doing? This is a perfect spot for a scanner. It was even marked on the holo-map," he explained without slowing the speed with which he hastily assembled the device. "With all the fighting going on, we've moved quite a distance from where you crashed.”

Kor studied Kaden quizzically, "Do you not feel that perhaps it would be appropriate to take a moment and gather ourselves before doing this?"

Kaden shook his head, "That would just be waste of time," he argued with an air of annoyance, "It's a bit dangerous out here, as I'm sure you've noticed. The sooner we get this started, the sooner we'll get done and the better our chances of success will be."

Back at the wigwump hole, Reegeh's ears twitched as a small part of his mind overheard the exchange between the two Lombaxes.

The large Kerchu got up shakily to his feet and turned, with a cold expression, to face the tan Lombax, "You..." he hissed as all his anger toward the wigwump and the sadness from the loss of Boogoh suddenly found an outlet.

Reegeh then began stomping toward where Kaden worked, his steps becoming faster the closer he got, "This is all your fault!" he shouted angrily about halfway there. "If you hadn't caused that explosion, that wigwump wouldn't have shown up and Boogoh wouldn't have... Master Boogoh wouldn't have…" Reegeh trailed off as words failed him.

Kaden, unchanged in his focus just sighed, "Kor," he said simply.

Without hesitation, Kor tackled Reegeh to the ground and proceeded to place him in a firm body hold. Kor felt empathy for his Kerchu companions, but he was still honor bound to Kaden's command. More than that though, he agreed with Kaden’s mindset. It was not unusual to lose comrades in combat and it was foolish to risk more lives, or worse, fail the mission, because of sentimentality.

The large Kerchu struggled to get free and even shouted some words that could not be translated at Kor, but the surprising strength of his captor was nothing short of overwhelming.

Realizing that his efforts were futile, Reegeh resigned himself to a verbal assault, "How can you be so empty!" he shouted at the tan-furred Lombax, who continued to work as if unaware. "Young Boogoh is dead and you can't even spare a few seconds of respect?!"

Still, Kaden showed no sign of having heard him.

Upon seeing no reaction, Reegeh seemed to deflate as his anger, unable to be released, shifted once more back to despair, "I understand that we must continue the mission and that we must be quick about it," Reegeh admitted in a surprisingly clear-headed view, "but do our lives, does young Boogoh's life, truly mean so little to you?"

Kaden finished rigging the Crust Piercer and stood to face the entanglement of Reegeh and Kor as the device's metallic sheet unraveled, "Mission? Dead?" Kaden repeated with a look of confusion, "What are you talking about?"

There was silence as both Reegeh, as well as Kor, were unable to understand Kaden's question. Siigih, who had been too lost to pay the altercation any mind so far, twitched his ears as a small part of him caught the tone in Kaden's voice.

After a few seconds of no reply, Kaden rolled his eyes, "I know you're all technically warrior caste, but I had a least hoped for more from you, Siigih," he noted disappointedly as he began to lay out pieces for two more Crust Piercers.

Kaden then spoke again, this time as if he were giving a lecture to children, "Alright, time for an anatomy lesson, so listen carefully because we don't have much time. An adult wigwump has exactly fourteen stomachs, only three of which are connected to its mouth. One is for storing rocks and dirt that it eats as it digs. The second is for storing, then releasing, that same material after it's been passed through the 'furnace' series of stomachs and has been turned into a slurry of lava and flammable, gastric fuel. The third and final of the three is where it stores edible food that has been recently eaten." Kaden suddenly pointed a finger at Siigih, who had by now been listening intently to Kaden's words, "Your rollers are airtight, correct? How much air does one have?"

Siigih, caught off guard by recent events and the sudden question fumbled with his words, "R-rollers? I-I don't- twenty- no! Twenty-five minutes… maybe? If the occupant doesn’t move."

Kaden shook his head at this perfect example of why emotions get in the way of things, "I'm sure you all saw Boogoh curl into his Roller before being eaten, yes? Even a wigwump's stomach acid isn't strong enough to digest through that metal right away, which means we have roughly Twenty-four minutes left to find the wigwump, kill it, and get Boogoh out of it.

The two Kerchu stared at their tan-furred companion in a daze. So painful had it been to accept the loss of Boogoh that now any new form of hope was being outright rejected.

"Find the wigwump?" repeated Reegeh in disbelief. "They can move faster underground than we can on foot! It's likely long gone by now."

Kaden held up his gauntlet and checked the readings on it, "True, it isn't likely to be coming back anytime soon," he agreed while looking at the real-time readings that he was receiving from the newly assembled Crust Piercer. "It's heading north and it's nearly half a mile underground already. It will be out of my sensor range very soon, at the rate it's moving."

Kor relaxed his grip on Reegeh, "Then how will we catch it?" he asked, realizing that if Kaden thought they could accomplish the task, then they probably could.

Kaden smiled at the sudden clear vote of confidence, "That wigwump is hurt pretty badly. The fact that it's still moving at all must mean its nest is nearby. Once it gets there, it will begin resting in order to heal and digest its 'food'. We can follow it through its own tunnels. However, if I lose track of the worm before it reaches its destination, then we'll likely be lost in a maze of wigwump holes, so we'll have to split up. Kor and I will head down the hole here and chase the wigwump, Reegeh and Siigih will each take a Crust Piercer and place them about a mile from this one. One to the North West and the other to the North East."

As Kaden finished speaking, he began walking toward the dark hole which the wigwump had left behind. Kor, Reegeh, and Siigih all stood up as he walked past.

Kor then quickly moved to Kaden's side while the Kerchu, still unable to fully comprehend what was being said, simply stared.

"Are you saying that we can still save Boogoh?" asked Siigih, hope starting to trickle into his pain clouded mind.

Kaden sighed, "Just put up the Crust Piercers and let us do the rest."

Without another word Kaden casually walked forward and disappeared down the hole, having been swallowed up by the pitch-black darkness in a second.

Kor took one last look at the remaining Kerchu, nodded once as a way of assuring them that they would succeed in their task, and then jumped in after his master.


	13. The Belly of the Beast

Kor couldn’t feel the intense rush of wind that whipped across his armored body, nor could he see the bottom of the shaft below. Without these minor comforts, he had no way of knowing for sure that he was still falling, as he plummeted deeper into the darkness. 

His helmet was able to help him see slightly, but even its night vision, coupled with his own powerful eyes, had its limits. The best he could do is make out the vague shadow of earthen walls that surrounded him. He continued like this for an unknowable amount to time, though, likely shorter than it felt.

Then there was a sudden flare of light from somewhere up ahead. 

Once he’d blinked a few times to remove the minor starbursts in his eyes, Kor could clearly make out the form of Kaden further down the shaft. His tan-furred companion had ignited his hoverboots and was using them to slow his descent. 

Kor assumed this to mean they’d almost reached the bottom. 

Having not planned on a landing strategy ahead of time, he was forced to improvise. 

With a mighty mid-air swing, the armored Lombax threw his wrench downward and at an angle, aiming for a spot in the tunnel wall to his side that was just a few meters below him. 

The force of the throw was matched with an equal and opposite reaction, serving to push his body in the other direction and toward the opposing wall.

Once he was close enough, Kor kicked hard against the dirt, slowing his descent and redirecting his trajectory. 

It was then that he caught sight of the ground and, just before he crashed into it, he yanked down hard on his wrist, causing his MS node to try and retract his wrench. 

The wrench broke free of the rock that it had been embedded in and the force of doing so also slowed Kor down even further. 

He then landed, crouched on one knee and with one armored fist planted into the ground, with a loud thud, before catching his wrench with his free hand a moment later.

Kaden, having already landed, didn't even acknowledge Kor's arrival. Instead, he simply studied the readings on his gauntlet and his visor’s HUD. 

Seemingly without being activated, the tan Lombax’s lamp drone popped out of its housing on his armor and hovered above his head, illuminating the various entrances around them. 

The two Lombaxes had safely reached the bottom of the tunnel, but they were now standing at an intersection of several other underground passageways. Clearly, the wigwump had come through here multiple times in the past.

Suddenly, Kaden's body went stiff and he looked up, “This one,” he said, before jets of flame erupted from the rear of his hoverboots, propelling him down one of the tunnels at break-neck speed.

Kor wasted no time in pursuing his companion and the two raced as fast as they could after their quarry.

* * *

About a mile or so down the tunnel, the tiny icon on Kaden’s scanner, which represented the still moving wigwump, disappeared from view. The icon had crossed beyond the edge of the three-dimensional map that represented the underground tunnel system. This meant that the wigwump was now beyond the Crust Piercer’s scan range. 

Kaden could continue on down the tunnel for now, following the wigwump’s known trail, but after that, he only knew the approximate direction he needed to go. Without an exact reading on the wigwump or the tunnels themselves, he could easily get lost underground if they came across another tunnel intersection.

It was also time, he knew, to stop using his hoverboots. The speedy transportation method had been safe to use so far, but he did not want to risk letting the wigwump hear them and find out that it had intruders. 

With a mental command, the flames under his feet died out and he landed with a slight thump on the tunnel floor. He would have to walk the rest of the way.

A few minutes later he was joined by Kor who had finally caught up to him.

Before the armored Lombax even had time to catch his breath, Kaden was explaining their situation.

“Do you have a plan?” asked Kor, after he’d heard why they were now walking at a leisurely pace.

Kaden thought for a bit, “Not a plan, so much as an objective,” he answered. 

Kor tilted his head curiously and waited for Kaden to continue. 

“A wigwump’s body is built like an armored tank. As you saw, the heavy plates that cover its hide are much harder than the rocks it easily breaks through and consistently eats like candy. There is one weakness, though, a ‘chink’ in its armor, if you will. It has a soft spot on its forehead that it uses to detect acute vibrations in the dirt and to help it keep its bearings underground. The armor covering that area is much thinner so as not to impair the sensitive lobes underneath.”

“So we aim for that soft spot on its forehead?” asked Kor inquisitively.

“Yes and no,” the tan Lombax replied cryptically. “That spot ‘is’ our goal, but we mustn’t destroy it outright. Enough damage to the area could kill the wigwump. I tried to hit it a few times earlier, but even that light armor plate was enough to stop my attacks. We would need something much more powerful… or much more precise to penetrate it. However, if the wigwump simply dies now, there will be almost no way for us to cut through its thick hide and get to Boogoh before his air supply runs out. No, what we need to do is remove that light armor plate and then violently, but slowly, shred its directional lobe to pieces while the creature is still alive. The intense pain and sense of vertigo will cause the wigwump to vomit anything in its nutritional digestive tract, Boogoh included.”

“I see,” replied Kor as he grasped the difficulty of their task. “And once we get to the creature’s lair?” he pressed.

“It’s likely that the wigwump will enter a resting state the moment it feels that it’s safe. Do you still have that Vibro-knife with you?” 

Kor nodded and then displayed the immaculate blade that he kept sheathed across his lower back. 

Kaden returned the nod, “If the wigwump is sleeping, then I’ll get into position to distract it should it wake up. You go around another way and try to get onto its head. When you’re up there you’ll need to pry off its protective plate and, once the lobe is exposed, use your knife to... pick its brain.”

Kaden paused to grin at his own joke before continuing, “If the wigwump is awake when we get there we’ll have to move straight on to phase two. Even if it is asleep when we get there, it ‘definitely’ won’t be afterwards, that’s where I’ll come in to keep it busy and draw its attention. You just focus on getting into its soft brain tissue and tearing it up. If it manages to dislodge you at any point, don’t worry about fighting it, just go find a good place to hide. I’ll try to lure it into position so that you have a clear shot to get back on its head.”

Kor nodded several times as Kaden explained, all the while going over the plan in his head. He was both preparing himself mentally for what he must do as well as simulating the different scenarios that might occur.

“What if the wigwump burrows again?” the armored warrior wondered, as images of a wigwump’s tail disappearing down another tunnel filled his mind. “What’s to stop it from simply running away once we attack it, like it did above ground?”

A slight smile creased Kaden’s lips, “Wigwumps are almost as territorial as the Kerchu. No matter how hurt it is, so long as one of us remains in its nest, it will keep fighting until either we’re gone or it’s dead.”

Kor nodded his understanding and returned to his mental simulations, but, to his surprise, he found that there were no obvious flaws in Kaden’s strategy.

After a few moments of silence, a kind of half-choking, half-growling noise was emitted from Kor’s helmet speakers.

Kaden had been around the armored Lombax long enough to recognize that this sound was, in fact, a small laugh; twisted and warped through the helmet’s air filtration system.

“And what’s so funny?” questioned Kaden, reflexively assuming that Kor’s amusement was directed at him.

Kor shook his head, “It is nothing, in particular, just that, when we faced creatures like the pterodactyl, the Grubsnuckers, the Grunthor, even the wigwump when it first appeared, every tactic and plan had been born ad hoc and the fights were won mostly by skill. However, as we head toward our toughest challenge yet, I finally see what happens when you have time to plan ahead. It is both reassuring and exhilarating to know that this is what I had been up against in that depot.” Another broken cackle of laughter left Kor’s speakers, “And I look forward to one day facing it again.”

Once more, Kaden found himself unable to decide how he felt about something. Part of him was sure that Kor’s words had been a compliment, but another part of him knew that it was also a threat.

Kaden tried not to react to Kor’s words, wanting to give them more thought before he did so, and instead focused on his gauntlet. The device was showing the two of them coming close to the end of the scanner’s radius. Any forks or secondary tunnel paths they came across after the next few meters is where they’d have to stop completely and hope that their Kerchu counterparts are able to set up the second set of scanners soon.

Having reached the end of what he was capable of doing, the tan Lombax dropped his gauntlet and continued to further ponder the meaning of what Kor had said.

Eventually, he gave in to his nature and focused on his ego, “Then, you would say that you’ve realized the truth of my genius?” he asked smugly.

Kor grinned a concealed smile at his companion’s arrogance, “I would not use the term ‘genius’ as loosely as you do, but I cannot deny your strategic abilities. Having now witnessed them from both sides of the battlefield, you have truly validated my mother’s warning.”

Kaden was suddenly intrigued by the mention of Kor’s immediate family, “And what warning was that?”

Kor turned to study Kaden with his emotionless face for a moment, before looking forward again, “I already told you, back when we first fought. Before I left my home for Nova and after I bid my farewells to friend and family both, my mother pulled me aside and gave me a stern warning. She said to me: ‘Be careful of the clever ones. They are as dangerous as they are unpredictable’.”

“Ha,” laughed Kaden, yet again liberally taking Kor’s words as a compliment. “Sounds like you should have listened to your mommy? Then maybe you wouldn’t have lost so badly in the depot match.”

Kaden had not forgotten that he himself had almost died in that fight, but he had also not forgotten that Kor didn’t seem to know that.

Kor simply nodded begrudgingly, “Indeed. Though my mother openly supported the idea of me training at the famous Demari school, secretly she feared that I was far too young to be out on my own and that I was not mature enough to face the challenges that would lie ahead of me. Of course, that only strengthened my resolve to do so, but perhaps she had been correct in her misgivings.”

Kaden smiled as Kor’s story brought up the memories of his own mother’s reaction to the news that he’d been ‘selected’ to attend Nova Academy. 

She too had insisted that he was too young to leave home at the tender age of sixteen, several years before most children went off to higher education programs.

Those thoughts, however, made Kaden curious about something, “By the way, Kor, how old are you?” he asked casually. 

Kaden himself was definitely young by most higher education standards, but it wasn’t too unheard of for someone his age to attend Nova. How young, then, could Kor be if his people, with their seemingly rough and die-by-the-spear warrior culture, thought he was too young to leave home?

Kor did not respond to the question at first. He instead cradled his metal chin in his armored hand and pondered the answer for a bit, “I was told that Demari age is measured by something called the ‘Galactic Standard Year’. If I remember the measurement correctly, then I reached the sixteenth age of survival, shortly after coming to Nova Academy.”

Kaden blinked several times as he digested the new information, ‘ _ Kor is younger than I am? _ ’ his mind questioned in disbelief. 

For some reason, Kaden had assumed that Kor was older than he was, and by a decent amount at that. He’d even gone so far as to suspect that the armored Lombax was already on the verge of second phase puberty, which would have been at least four years older than what he actually was.

To Kaden though, an even more disturbing revelation that he ‘himself’ had turned sixteen only just before coming to Nova Academy. This meant that he and Kor were only about a Galactic Standard Month apart in age. If Kor had lived in Valmecha, the chances were very high that they’d have been in the same class during primary education, or at least one of any class up from there. 

The thought began to make Kaden wonder what they’d be like had they met back then and how their relationship might be different.

Any further musings were stopped there, however, as a soft beeping from Kaden’s NID told him that a new Crust Piercer signal had gone active. He and Kor both stopped walking so he could focus on his devices and they waited for the system to connect. 

Only one newly active scanner signal meant that only one of the two Kerchu had managed to complete their task, but Kaden had expected this much. It was likely that one of their Kerchu companions had arrived at their destination either more swiftly or with less resistance from wildlife. 

They had been sent in two directions as more of a precaution and there was still a high chance that the wigwump’s nest would be within the range of either scanner, regardless of whose it was.

After about fifteen seconds of waiting (precious time to them), a rough sketch outline, representing the series of underground tunnels that lay ahead of them, took form on Kaden’s gauntlet. 

The images were grainy and lacked much of their usual detail, such as the molecular composition of the ground itself, but that was fine. Kaden had programmed the scanner to deliver faster readings to him as soon as possible, they were after a monster, not gelotonium, after all.

There was no movement of anything large enough to track. But, as the grainy images of a wide-spanning tunnel network came into focus, Kaden traced the most likely path that the wigwump had taken and, quite quickly, spotted what appeared to be a subterranean cavern with several tunnels leading into it. The area was like some kind of network hub.

“That’s our target,” the tan Lombax declared with a satisfied smile, as he pointed out the location to Kor.

Kor nodded his understanding. The two of them then locked eyes, nodded once more to each other, and were racing off down the tunnel in the next instant. 

It was finally time for the main event.

* * *

The two Lombaxes reached the end of the tunnel and paused just on the threshold of the cavern interior.

Unlike the wigwump-sized tunnels they’d already traveled through, this room was a hollowed out cavity big enough to fit a starship the size of the  _ Slipstream _ comfortably inside. 

Despite the fact that Kaden had deactivated his floating lamp a while ago, the interior of the cavern was still visible. The soft orange glow of liquid rock illuminated the pitch darkness of the cavern.

Wigwumps were cold-blooded creatures and therefore needed external heat to warm themselves. This was why, when they chose their nests, it was always close to thermal vents and magma veins.

The temperature was intense and Kaden could feel his suit’s systems already releasing cooling gel to keep him from overheating. 

Though Kor could not feel the thermal assault directly, he too knew the temperature of the room by instinct. The whole cavern was giving him nostalgic feelings and briefly caused him to envision his home.

Dozens of tunnel openings dotted the cavern walls, some forming jagged ledges where barriers had collapsed into the main atrium. Large protruding boulders also decorated the interior. These had likely been uncovered when the cavern had originally been dug out, but were simply too big for its creator to deal with or care about. 

The distinct markings of wigwump jaws covered the rocky surface like fingerprints and, if all of this wasn’t evidence enough that the large cavern was the wigwump’s nest, the final piece of evidence was the sight of the wounded wigwump itself, sleeping soundly on a raised plateau close to the cavern’s middle.

Kaden and Kor watched the giant worm’s stomach rise up smoothly, before rattling painfully back down, signs of the damage it had sustained.

Kor then turned to Kaden and the two Lombaxes shared one last look before they entered the cavern and immediately split off into separate directions. 

There was no longer any need for words, both understood the plan and what their duties in it were. All that was left for them now was to play their parts.

* * *

Kor had moved quickly, but stealthily to the nearest ledge that overlooked the slumbering beast. The distance between them was long, but he was certain that he could still make the jump to the creature’s back from there. 

In the shadows on the far side of the cave, he could vaguely make out the shape of Kaden moving between pillars of rock and mounds of dirt. 

The tan-furred Lombax seemed to eventually find a place he liked, one with an excellent line of sight on the wigwump for him to attack, and with ample cover for him to hide behind, or retreat to. 

Kor watched and waited patiently. Then, after what felt like an agonizingly long few seconds, a bright glow of energy lit up the distance, and the sharp whine of charging electromagnetic fields reached Kor’s ears. 

From the time the sound had touched his eardrums to the moment his heart had started its next beat, the armored Lombax was already dashing forward at full speed. When he reached the edge of his rock shelf, before the third beat of his heart, he leapt through the air and towards his target without hesitation.

The high-pitched whine of Kaden’s weapons had begun to make the wigwump stir in its sleep. 

The monster was then jostled to full wakefulness as a heavy, metal-encased object landed on its back near its head. 

It blinked its nine eyes in the dim cavern light, still unsure of what was happening. Then, noticing the odd glow among the larger stalagmites, it lifted its head up to get a better look around.

Standing atop the creature, yet unnoticed, Kor carefully unsheathed his vibro-knife. 

He had easily found the small armored plate on the creature’s forehead that Kaden had spoken of and carefully squeezed himself in-between a hardened groove in the wigwump’s armored body. He then took a firm hold of another piece of chitin with his free hand, followed by a deep breath.

The beast was calm now, but Kor knew, as he aligned his knife’s edge with the outer border of the small armor plate, that it would not be this way for long.

On the other side of the cave, Kaden could see nothing of this impressive feat. 

He didn’t want to waste the effort dealing with night-vision against a creature that could hurl brightly glowing rock at him and so he had simply trusted that the distant creature’s movements were a result of Kor making his way to its forehead and not just it noticing the sound of his weapons too quickly.

The two Lombaxes had feared the wigwumps impressive ability to detect vibrations through the ground, so they had tried to travel as light-footed as possible, counting on the wigwump being too exhausted to notice them.

As the beast began to groggily look around its home, Kaden’s ears twitched in concern and he raised his gauntlets defensively. He was sure that if either of them had been detected prematurely, it wouldn’t be Kor.

Then, from Kaden’s perspective, it was as if someone had flipped a switch. 

The wigwump suddenly reared up high into the air and threw its head back, shrieking its discomfort at full force.

The noise reverberated off the walls of the underground chamber and shook the very rocks it was made out of, causing trails of dust to fall throughout. 

The wigwump then bucked and thrashed as it tried to throw off the source of its pain.

Through the brief flashing of magma light, Kaden spotted Kor as he held onto the wigwump like a tick, refusing to be dislodged as he slowly sawed through the flesh that held the beast’s armor plating.

However, even with the Lombax warrior’s vice-like grip, Kaden knew that Kor could not hold on forever. 

After a certain amount of time had passed, Kaden then decided that his counterpart must be close to his limit and that it was now time to give him a break, but in order to make the wigwump forget about the pain in its head, it would need to feel an even more intense and/or addressable pain from somewhere else.

Stepping out into the light of the magma, Kaden raised one of the now two glowing Nuclear Fists and fired a beam of energy straight into the side of the wigwump. 

The giant worm reeled away from the attack as lines of charred flesh were seared into it. It roared its suffering and surprise at full volume as it recoiled from the ongoing assault.

Despite the intensity of the attack, however, the wigwump did not take long to recover once the beam had died out. 

Having almost completely forgotten about Kor, the large creature rounded on Kaden and charged toward him on its numerous legs… just as planned.

Kaden moved swiftly in-between cover, keeping his second fully charged Nuclear Fist at the ready.

Drawn now to the sound of the Lombax’s humming weapon, the wigwump quickly smashed through the rock barriers that hid its prey, but the moment the tiny Lombax assailant was in sight, he carved another line of fire into its side, before slipping back into the darkness without a trace.

The beast roared its anger at having both been struck again and at losing its quarry. 

Switching tactics, the wigwump breathed in deeply, inflating slightly, before spewing molten rock out across the cavern floor. 

It did not matter now if the little Lombax was hidden from view, the wigwump would simply coat the entire room in burning hot magma and either flush him out, or bury him alive.

Kaden was almost caught off guard by the wave of liquid rock that came cascading over his hiding spot. 

Quickly, he ignited his hoverboots and blasted away from the surge of magma, making his way to the other side of the cavern as fast as possible. 

Too late, however, did he realize how much distance his narrow escape had put between himself and the wigwump.

Without Kaden there to keep constant pressure on it, the giant worm finally remembered the intense pain that was digging into its forehead.

Kor had now managed to cut almost two-thirds of the way around the organic armored plate when he felt the wigwump start to buck and thrash again in an attempt to dislodge him. 

The armored Lombax was then forced to abandon his cutting attempt in order to get a better hold on his seat.

Despite his best efforts though, the wigwump would not be discouraged. 

In one last ditch effort, the gargantuan worm dove headfirst down a previously dug, vertical tunnel in the cavern floor. A tunnel that was not big enough for both the wigwump and a passenger.

Kor recovered from the sudden feeling of vertigo and looked up just in time to see the cavern floor come flying up to meet him.

Like a cartoon character riding a train as it entered a tunnel, Kor was ripped cleanly off the wigwump’s head and slammed deep into the dirt, where he laid in a daze for a moment.

Unaware of Kor’s departure, the wigwump simply kept digging until the searing pain in its head subsided to mild throb, leaving its assailant to groggily get back to his feet from the Lombax-shaped crater that had been created.

“What are you doing?” hissed Kaden quietly over the radio. “Get to a better position!”

Kor nodded, but the act of doing so only made him dizzier. He then gave an awkward thumbs up to where he imagined Kaden was watching him from (he was incorrect), before drunkenly running off toward the cavern’s edge in search of a good, raised position he could use to jump off of.

Kaden shook his head as he watched Kor go, before focusing his attention back on his gauntlet display. He watched on his subterranean map as the icon of the wigwump moved deeper through the ground, before stopping a short distance underneath the cavern.

Kaden knew that the wigwump wouldn’t stay away from its nest for long, he was amazed that it had left at all, but time was short. They only had roughly five more minutes before Boogoh’s air ran out. 

Unwilling to sit and wait for their target to gather its wits and counter-attack, Kaden decided to draw their target to them.

Flexing the fingers of his hands a few times to get the blood flowing properly, he mentally commanded his Atomic Claws to extend. He didn’t have enough energy in his power cells left to execute another Giga Strike, but that was not his plan. 

Instead, Kaden drove his long claws deep into the soft dirt, and with another mental command, he activated the Sonic Disruptors that were still equipped to his gauntlets.

Acting like a large antenna, Kaden’s Claws of Doom transmitted the powerful sonic waves from his Disruptor into the ground, forcing intense vibrations to emanate out.

* * *

Deep underground and nursing its many wounds, the wigwump suddenly felt intense vibrations. 

It was as if someone were screaming in its ears. 

The creature rocked back and forth as the already pounding headache it had been nursing was redoubled from the effect of the noise. 

Besides the intense pain that the vibrations were causing, though, the large worm also saw the noise as a challenge. Wigwumps frequently declared their territory by sending out strong vibrational waves, warning all other subterranean creatures that it owned the area. This was what caused wigwumps to attack gelatonium rigs that drilled underground.

No matter what wounds the beast had, its instinct could not be ignored.

* * *

Kaden grinned with self-satisfaction as he watched the tiny icon on his map start moving toward him again. He then wasted no time in preparing for its arrival. 

He quickly retracted his claws and jumped on top of a large boulder where he began to charge his Nuclear Fists. This would be the perfect position to blast his target the moment it surfaced.

The ground began to rattle as the wigwump grew ever closer. It was closing faster than Kaden had calculated and he held his breath, hoping that his weapons would charge before the creature arrived. 

Unfortunately, when the wigwump burst from the ground, roaring its challenge to all who dare enter its nest, Kaden’s HUD was still reading only ninety percent for both palms.

The wigwump quickly scanned the cavern interior, looking for whatever had called it here, before locking onto the sound of Kaden’s weapons and staring down the tan Lombax hungrily. 

Kaden swallowed hard, watching the recharge-bar on his HUD creep ever closer to full as he made his gamble to hold out and wait rather than release his charge and make a run for it.

The wigwump roared once more at the immobile Lombax, this time a form of direct challenge to him specifically, before looming high above him and opening wide its fang-filled mouth. 

Kaden’s ears pointed away from the danger, mimicking what the rest of his body wanted to do, as the creature came down at him and his HUD read ninety-eight percent.

Out of the corner of his eye, the soon to be Lombax meal caught the small glint of something metal. 

A second later, a large Malleus Wrench slammed into the side of the wigwump’s head, dazing it slightly, before disappearing back from whence it came.

Kaden clicked his teeth in irritation. He was mad at Kor for having diverged from the plan and risked being discovered, but he was much angrier at the possibility of having been saved by his armored companion. 

However, Kaden quickly reassured himself that this wasn’t the case.

_ ‘My NID had been like… ninety-nine percent full.’ _ he told himself. He’d definitely have made it in time without Kor’s help.

Regardless, the wigwump quickly brushed off the unexpected attack and returned to finish what it started, but, when it turned to face Kaden once more, it was immediately greeted by a searing ray of energy that burned into its side like a long hot knife.

The wigwump howled in sudden agony as it was driven back. 

Then, the moment the beam’s energy ran out, Kaden jumped down from his perch and began moving to the edge of the cavern. 

Once it had recovered from this most recent painful attack, the wigwump roared out its defiance and gave chase.

* * *

Kor caught his large wrench cleanly in one hand as he stood atop the high ledge he had chosen. 

He knew that his tan-furred companion would likely reprimand him for not following the plan to the letter and he knew for a fact that his actions just now would never be recognized toward repaying his debt, but that did not matter at the moment. The only thing that did matter was bringing down this monstrous beast and rescuing the young Kerchu from within its guts.

Moving back to the far side of the ledge, Kor again hid himself in the shadows and pressed his body against the cavern wall. He was sure that Kaden had already been aware of his location, even before he’d revealed himself with his attack, so now he simply had to wait for the most opportune moment to strike.

This assumption was validated almost immediately, as the sounds of roaring and the crashes of a wigwump in pursuit of prey began moving towards Kor’s location.

Visibility was low from where the armored Lombax was hidden and he dared not move again for fear that the wigwump would detect the vibrations he’d cause and become wary of their ambush. Instead, Kor relied almost entirely on his keen sense of hearing.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep, long breath, the warrior Lombax focused each of his six senses, shutting off one after another, until only his hearing, heightened to its maximum, remained. 

From this, a world created entirely by sound began to paint itself in his mind.

The wigwump roared in the distance. Kor weeded through the sounds that were likely echoes from the walls in order to pinpoint the exact location of the beast and, more specifically, its head. This was followed by a loud, reverberating crash that showed Kor exactly where the wigwump’s body was.

A loud, prolonged twang of burning air was the unmistakable sound of Kaden’s ray attack. This was then quickly followed by the familiar, and by now inherently irritating, sound of hoverboots igniting. 

Kor traced the sound as it moved through the distorting maze of stalagmites and boulders until it suddenly vanished and was replaced by the sound of Kaden’s Nuclear Fists recharging. 

From any other point of view, the battle would have looked like a desperate struggle to survive a wigwump attack, but as Kor focused intensely on mapping the battle out, a chilling pattern of control soon became apparent. 

Despite himself, the young warrior had to marvel at the skill with which Kaden was baiting, attacking, and luring the giant creature to his whim, almost like a puppeteer pulling on a puppet’s strings. 

It was made very clear, to Kor at least, which of the two was the predator and which the prey.

For nearly a minute, Kor watched the unseen battle unfold from the shadows of his ledge. All the while barely even moving his chest to breathe. Silently, he watched in his mind’s eye as Kaden drew the wigwump ever closer.

Then… the wigwump entered striking distance.

Alarms suddenly went off in Kor’s head. His previously shut-down body was brought to full wakefulness in a matter of milliseconds and the armored Lombax found himself running toward the end of his ledge before he was even aware of it. 

Kor opened his eyes just as his heavy boot pressed down on the very brink of the ledge and, all at once, a world made of light came flooding back to him. For a moment in time, all was still and Kor took in the entire scene at once.

There was the wigwump, directly in front of him and in the perfect position for him to get on top of. This was thanks entirely to Kaden, who could be seen out of cover a short distance away, pouring another beam of nuclear energy into the creature’s side.

The attack had been timed perfectly so that the wigwump’s natural reaction of rearing up and away from the pain put its head easily within leaping distance and in perfect line of Kor’s ledge.

There was an odd emotion that stirred within the armored warrior that he either could not, or simply refused to recognize. The feeling had been brought on by his realization that his tan-furred companion had moved out of cover and had faced greater risk in order to achieve the proper angle for him to execute this attack. 

Added to this, the fact that Kaden’s beam only lasted a few seconds, Kor had realized that Kaden was placing total faith in him to make his move during this small window of opportunity, with no prior signal or guarantee.

This was all the more impressive when he noticed that Kaden’s attacks were simultaneously adding the finishing touches to a large letter ‘e’ in the wigwump’s side, which appeared in a row just after the letters ‘K’, ‘A’, and ‘D’ that were already written.

Regardless of Kaden’s actions, both confoundingly touching and impressively arrogant, Kor only knew that he would not allow himself to lose this chance given to him. 

Pushing his foot down with all the strength his leg could muster, the red-armored Lombax used the momentum of his run and launched himself like a cannonball into the air, where he arced down just a bit, before landing squarely on the wigwump’s forehead.

Not willing to be thrown off again, Kor found a piece of chitinous armor-plating on the wigwump’s head that had been partially peeled back thanks to repeated attack and violent trauma. 

With one hand, Kor reached behind his back and detached his Malleus Wrench before swinging it down hard in-between the crack in the creature’s armor.

The beast writhed and bucked as it felt the weapon dig into its skin, but the magnetic connection that Kor had with his wrench through his MS node now granted him an excellent anchoring point. 

He would not be thrown off again so easily.

* * *

Kaden’s beam attack died in his hands just as Kor made it onto the wigwump’s back. 

_ ‘This is so frustrating,’ _ he thought angrily. 

Despite his relief at seeing Kor successfully mount the wigwump, the tan Lombax could not get over the fact that he’d needed to use a lowercase ‘e’ for his name when he had already done the other letters in uppercase. 

He had hoped that the design would not look as bad once it was physical, but now that he could see how out of place the ‘e’ was amongst the other letters, it was even worse than he’d imagined: 

KADeN

Kaden had managed to make the ‘K’ by using two attacks, one being the vertical line and the other being the angular one. He even managed to pull off the ‘A’ in one shot by coming in slightly on both sides during the up and down part, similar to how an ‘8’ looks. 

Despite this success, however, he just could not find a way to pull off the ‘E’ efficiently. His beam attacks had to be continuous and they were hard to maneuver. Turning sharply was hard enough, but going straight back was impossible for him, so the middle dash in the uppercase ‘E’ was just too much to do with one attack. If he’d had to use two attacks, however, like he’d done for the ‘K’, then it would have taken him a total of seven attacks instead of six to write his name.

Kaden simply wasn’t sure that he would have enough energy left to recharge his gauntlets for a seventh attack. Not to mention that it would be uneven! He had ‘two’ hands, so what would he do with the eighth attack?

_ ‘Oh well,’ _ he thought glumly as he refocused on the task at hand.

Now that Kor had remounted the wigwump, all he had to do was keep it distracted long enough for his armored companion to deliver the finishing blow. 

Judging from the way the wigwump was thrashing about, it was likely that the giant worm was at least partially aware of the danger it was in.

Kaden didn’t have time to get back into cover now, he had to get the wigwump’s attention again before it threw Kor off a second time. 

Besides, he had a piece of art to finish signing...

Raising his remaining Nuclear Fist into the air, Kaden unleashed another blinding barrage of high-energy matter at his target. The wigwump roared as the carefully crafted lines of an ‘N’ were engraved into its side.

Strain was evident on the tan Lombax’s face as he fought to change the beam’s course from up to down at the first turn. Once he made it successfully, however, a slight grin began to crease his tense lips.

The smile on his face seemed to grow with every inch that he got closer to completing the glorious ode to his greatness, carved into the side of one of Sargasso’s greatest threats.

Then, just as he was making the second and final turn that completed the ‘N’, Kaden’s gauntlet exploded.

* * *

To say that Kaden’s equipment had exploded would not be completely accurate. 

What had actually happened was that the magnetic fields which held and manipulated his nuclear attacks had suddenly failed, resulting in the abrupt release of the remaining energy. 

This energy was barely a third of a Full Nuclear fist charge, as most had been already expelled during its latest assault, but there was still more than enough left to knock Kaden clean off his feet and send him crashing backwards into the dirt.

Blinking dust and tears from his eyes, the tan Lombax’s ears were filled with the piercing ring of the explosion. He quickly tried to recount what had happened to him just seconds ago, but he was drawing a blank as his mind rolled about dizzily.

In search of an answer, Kaden raised his still smoking and sparking gauntlet up to his face to examine it. 

Besides the obvious damage that had been caused by the nuclear core meltdown, he could not see any reason for the magnetic field failure to have occurred.

Desperately, Kaden racked his brain for an explanation while simultaneously commanding his NID to run numerous systems checks. 

No matter how hard he tried though, he could not remember what he had been doing to cause this malfunction. His NID checks didn’t help either, they all came back clean.

However, even though his NID had not given him a direct answer, he did notice something odd about the checks… they were coming back too slowly. He should have had a full system report displayed across his HUD in less than a second, but this one had taken nearly three.

From there, it only took Kaden a fraction of a second to find the reason for both these issues: his power cells were almost entirely drained from his exertions thus far and now barely even had enough power to run a simple system’s check. 

Kaden’s Nuclear Fist’s magnetic fields had failed simply because they ran out of juice.

The very idea was like a knife to the young Lombax’s ego. How could he be so stupid as to miscalculate his power levels?

Calculating cell levels wasn’t as straightforward as it sounded. Much like how a battery dying in an ancient style flashlight caused it to flicker before going out completely, low levels of a fusion cell could lead to major power fluctuations and the power source was usually removed before hitting twenty-five percent capacity.

But that was no excuse. And to think that such an idiotic oversight had led to the failure of his task!

Then, at that moment, another thought occurred to Kaden,  _ ‘What had his task been?’ _ he wondered as the blank spot in his mind began to itch again.

Once more he tried hard to recall what he’d been doing just before the explosion. 

As he did so, the ringing in his ears finally died away, but it was curiously replaced by another sound. A rough kind of rumbling noise that emanated from somewhere above him.

A cold chill ran through the tan Lombax’s spine as he slowly looked up into the nine glowing eyes of the growling wigwump. 

Kaden suddenly remembered that he’d been trying to get the giant worm’s attention… and that he’d succeeded.

Like an avalanche of muscle and teeth, the cave crawling monster cascaded downward.

The tiny Lombax watched in stunned disbelief as his entire view of the cavern became painted over by the wigwump’s massive jaws. 

The attack had come so suddenly that all he’d had time to do was let out a slight, “Ah,” in surprise, before the tidal wave that was the wigwump crashed over him, devouring both him, and most of the ground he sat on, in a single bite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you watch the battle with the wigwump in All 4 One carefully, you can see that when it is attacked, there are several spots around its head that begin to glow. When it is finally killed, the spot that runs along the top of its head glows the brightest and looks almost like it had just been cut into with a laser-saw. This is the spot that is referred to in the chapter.
> 
> Lava vs Magma - So, ‘Magma’ is the molten rock that lies beneath the planet’s crust, while ‘Lava’ is the same molten rock once it’s erupted onto the surface. I try to keep these two straight as much as possible, but I’m sure I’ve missed some.


	14. Gut-wrenching

From the top of wigwump’s head, Kor had a front row seat and watched the scene that unfolded before him in utter disbelief. 

The massive creature then threw its head back and a loud ‘gulp’ echoed around the cavern walls. The relatively slight motion had nearly thrown Kor from the creature’s back due to the sheer shock he’d received.

_ ‘Kaden had been eaten!’ _

That was something that Kor had not expected to happen even in his wildest dreams. Wished for, maybe, but never expected.

Kor had viewed his tan-furred companion as far too crafty and too cunning to ever be caught by surprise or unaware, but now that it had happened, Kor almost didn’t know what to believe anymore.

The armored Lombax’s air filters began to buzz angrily as his breathing quickened. The sudden realization had hit him that he was now all alone, more than a mile underground, and straddling an enraged wigwump between his legs. 

Despite his best efforts, a tiny seed of panic began to take root in the usually unshakable warrior’s mind. Kor soon began to wonder what else could go wrong.

Questions like, ‘ _ What if Kaden’s plan didn’t even work?’ _ began to infiltrate his focus. 

The concern had merit as well. After all, Kaden had made the mistake of being eaten, what if destroying the lobe on the wigwump’s forehead failed to make it regurgitate, meaning their mission was doomed from the start? Even worse, what if, beneath the armor plate that Kor had desperately been trying to remove, there was actually nothing more than another layer of fat and muscle like the rest of the monstrous beast?

Kor’s mental ravings were interrupted by a sudden, violent jarring. 

The wigwump, having swallowed its second meal, was returning its attention to the final remaining nuisance that sat atop its head.

Kor gripped the wigwump’s body tighter to keep from being thrown, but not out of duty. He now held on to the creature for dear life, terrified of being knocked off and having to face the wigwump on the ground.

This revelation came as a complete shock to the armored Lombax. Never once, before now, had he doubted his ability to defeat the wigwump, or any creature for that matter. Did he really place so much value in Kaden’s abilities that he’d lost all hope the moment the tan Lombax had been defeated?

The wigwump bucked sharply and a muffled thud of a metal helmet being slammed hard into chitin rang out across the desolate cavern, followed by the pained shriek of the creature as it felt an intense, shooting sting from its ‘soft spot’.

Kor lifted his armored face back up from the wigwump’s body, having realized two things from the intense jolt he’d just given himself. 

The first was that nothing he was thinking right now mattered. No matter what the future held, he had committed himself to his mission the moment he’d stepped onto the shuttle for Sargasso, and to Kaden as well, for that matter. The only thing he could do was trust in his master’s plan and push forward until he was either victorious or dead.

The second thing Kor realized was that hitting one’s head violently against something hard twice in a short amount of time was really painful, but that was more of a ‘lesson learned’ than some great revelation.

Pushing away all fears and unnecessary thoughts, the Lombax warrior steeled his mind and his body for the fight ahead.

In response, wigwump too growled its determination and desire to finish this fight. 

The final battle commenced.

* * *

Deep inside the stomach of the wigwump, Kaden floated in a pool of caustic acid. 

The tan Lombax could feel the volatile liquid burning his unprotected skin. 

Even though he was only in the first stomach of the ‘digestive’ tract, where the acid was lighter and designed to separate rocky, inedible material from the edible stuff, the juices were already burning away his fur and skin at an alarming rate. His Nanotech would, of course, try to repair the lost tissue, but the tiny Nano-bots would simply be swept away by the acid the moment they reached an open wound.

Immediately upon being swallowed, Kaden had quickly shoved his fingers in his ears and tried to cover as much of his face as possible, using his pinky fingers to plug the nostrils on the end of his muzzle. 

Clenching every muscle in his body, he did his best to make himself watertight. 

The acid would have eaten through his eyelids almost instantly and his sensitive eyes/eardrums were likely to be damaged permanently from even the slightest contact with it, thus the need to protect them with his hands. 

If he let go of his face for even a second, he’d likely be rendered blind and deaf until he could be treated by a medical professional.

Luckily, or unluckily as the case may be, Kaden had no reason to use his hands for anything else at the moment. His NID readings were making it very clear to him that the majority of his equipment had already been flooded by caustic fluid. 

Even if he ‘did’ have had any power cells left to charge another one of his attacks, the precision electronics that regulated the intense fluctuation of energy output were all likely to be little more than metallic sludge by now.

Preparing for the long haul, Kaden then tried to scrunch his head as close to his shoulders as he could, to put up as much fleshy resistance around his neck as possible, since his throat was now the weakest point on his body. 

Even with this precaution, however, he estimated that the acid would breach this area in less than three minutes. After that, the burning waters would pour into his lungs and sinuses and rapidly begin the process of dissolving him from the inside as well as the out.

All the significantly less tan-furred Lombax could do for now was wait and hope that Kor succeeded in his task soon.

In the painful silence that followed the concluded assessment of his situation, Kaden noted that this marked the second time he had faced his own demise in almost as many weeks, but this time was significantly different from the first. 

After the showdown in the depot, he had only realized the direness of his situation shortly before he’d lost consciousness. In that time he’d only managed to roughly assess his situation, before attempting to save himself by removing the shrapnel. He then fainted without having much time left to think about what came next.

On this occasion, however, Kaden had ‘plenty’ of time to think, but, as most people who have faced dire situations before will tell you, thinking is the last thing you want to do.

As the caustic stomach acid burned every inch of Kaden’s body, making it feel like thousands of tiny insects were crawling over him and biting him ravenously, the pain was quickly driving him mad.

It wasn’t like normal pain, which was usually focused on a single area. At the moment, no single part of his body gave him any particularly intense feeling, but it was easy to tell which of the two situations would be worse. The situation he was in was the physical equivalent of being set on fire, if that fire burned much more slowly than usual and took a much longer period of time to finish the job. 

Kaden could feel every single nerve scream as they were eaten one-by-one, yet also simultaneously. Every time he felt the pain of one nerve bundle disappear, meaning it had either been cut off from his nervous system or completely dissolved, new pain from several more nerve endings would replace it once the acid had moved deeper and opened up more area in a never-ending buffet of pain nodules.

With nothing else to do but think, Kaden tried to focus his mind away from his suffering, choosing to reflect on what had brought him to this point. 

Besides the obvious mistake of not keeping better track of his power supply, the tan Lombax really didn’t have any regrets, or rather, it was not in his nature to regret.

Sure, if he hadn’t always been competing with Kor then he wouldn’t have caused the explosion that attracted the wigwump in the first place, but that wouldn’t stop Kaden from doing it all again even if he’d had the chance. He had won that competition, after all.

If anything, this was Boogoh’s fault for getting eaten in the first place and making him come down the wigwump hole to save him.

Kaden’s head smacked against something hard. The wigwump had started moving violently again, but he barely noticed it over the pain of being dissolved. 

For all he knew, the object he’d just hit was Boogoh, sharing the same stomach space… or it could be a rock, it didn’t matter. Even if it was Boogoh’s roller that was touching him, there was nothing he could do at this point. 

In fact, he was likely to die before the young Kerchu inside did.

As Kaden cycled through his life over the agonizingly long time it took for him to die, he thought of many things. He thought about how he never got back at Varin for switching his sodium chlorate with sodium nitrate and causing his experiment to blow up in his face. He thought about how he would never challenge Alister to another hoverboot race, or get back at him for telling him off and throwing the box of chocolates at him.

Oh! And he never got to eat any of those chocolates, he definitely regretted that.

Of course, he thought about Sorana, but he really tried not to. He’d happily focus his mind on the pain of being slowly eaten alive by acid over thinking about how he’d never get to apologize for making her worry… or for never coming back.

Among all of his thoughts, however, he always kept coming back to one: Kor Vol’terran, the red-armored Lombax, the Red Reaper of Nova, and the Crimson Reaper of Magnaron. 

It was in these moments, likely his final ones, that he started to ask himself,  _ ‘Why was he so obsessed with Kor?’ _

There were certainly the obvious reasons, the ones he had told Kor himself, about wanting to solve the ‘mystery’, but there had to be more. 

Kaden had come across many things in his life that he never fully understood. Sure, he’d once forced the mobilization of the entire Valmechan Peacekeeper forces just to see how far Alexi Zakon could be pushed, but that had been born from the several year-long tug-of-war between himself and the old Guardian. He’d only met Kor a little over half a year ago.

In true Kaden fashion, the tan Lombax tried to analyze his own psyche.

There was the fact that Kor had outsmarted him during the MSET. That was definitely a huge catalyst and Kaden had definitely gone off into deep space with anger and desire to get revenge, but it takes a lot of energy to hold a grudge and truthfully, he had simmered down by the time Alister and Varick had come to pull him out of his room. 

Of course, he’d only simmered down, not turned off completely.

No matter how hard he tried though, Kaden could not pinpoint the reason he targeted Kor so intensely. There was just something about the armored Lombax that he hated.

Or… maybe the reason wasn’t that he hated Kor. Not all of the reason at least.

Even Kaden himself knew that he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t impressed by Kor. The armored Lombax had surpassed his expectations time and time again. It was very true that he had been amazed to see his own weapon, the Metal Storm, used so efficiently. 

After having learned that most of Kor’s weapons had been destroyed during their match, Kaden had even second-naturedly began designing all sorts of high user-skill weaponry and devices in his head. He had never realized how much the consideration for a weapon wielders’ abilities had been holding him back.

Strangest of all his thoughts, however, was the unexplained sense of calm he felt at this very moment. Even as his body was literally being eaten alive, well... digested alive, he was not ‘actually’ worried.

Sure, it was in Kaden’s nature to calmly asses most situations, even his own death, but despite his rationalization and acceptance of his current situation, Kaden realized that deep down he did not actually believe that he was going to die. Unfathomably, he had faith in his armored companion to succeed in his task and rescue him from this dire situation.

Still, Kaden knew the chances that he’d survive weren’t perfect, so, to save time, he started to go through the five stages of grief. As usual, he chose to skip ‘denial’ and ‘depression’ altogether as they were entirely inefficient, so he jumped straight into ‘bargaining’, which, off all the stages, usually held the most promise of actually accomplishing something.

Kaden decided that, if Kor indeed managed to save him, he’d try to be nicer to the hated armored Lombax.

* * *

The wigwump flailed and bucked and thrashed in a redoubled effort to throw its attacker off. 

Kor, on the other hand, was as calm and cool as ice. He held on tightly with his legs and free hand, using his MS node to aid in his balance, as he carefully cut through the remaining flesh around the wigwump’s armored plate.

With each sawing motion, the pain in the giant worm’s head grew and its efforts to remove Kor became ever more drastic. It began to jump and even roll violently. 

Kor was able to overcome this by pressing himself flat against the creature, using the large gap between its facial armor plating and its neck to prevent himself from being crushed, but the pressure he felt was still very intense.

In one instance, the wigwump even rolled into a pool of hissing magma, dousing Kor in cherry-red molten rock, but the armored Lombax would not be deterred. Just as he had said to Kaden earlier, his armor proved itself against such assaults, causing Kor to feel little more than an intense warmth through his thick, insulated plates. 

_ ‘This is nothing compared to Kaden’s attack,’ _ Kor noted internally, with a twisted smile hidden under his helmet.

Then, just as he was about to cut through the last few inches of meat that connected the armored plate to the wigwump’s forehead, the giant worm itself reared up to its full height, screeched its frustration loudly into the cavern, and then dove forward again.

Knowing what was coming this time, Kor pressed his body as tightly as he could against the wigwump’s skin, just as it headed for one of its tunnels.

The armored Lombax felt his world become incredibly cramped in an instant and the light all but vanished from around him as he was squeezed into a coffin-sized gap, with wigwump flesh on one side and rapidly moving stone and dirt on the other.

Kor held his breath reflexively as the wigwump sped through the tunnels, shaking and juddering as it did. The dangers of slipping loose even slightly were obvious to any. He used every muscle in his body to press himself into the wigwump’s body, so tightly that he was sure he’d leave an imprint behind.

Despite his best efforts, however, Kor could not keep himself completely out of harm’s way.

A piece of his armored shoulder guard, a sliver no bigger than a fingernail, managed to get too close to the moving wall of rock above its wearer’s head. 

There was a slight, almost imperceptible, clink that rang out when Kor’s armor had caught the rocks and an instant later the armored Lombax’s arm was forced upward by the levering action of the collision.

The sounds filled his ears next were a blood-curdling series of crunches and cracks that resonated from where Kor’s arm was being ground violently between the rock wall above and the wigwump’s body below. 

Immediately, the arm dislocated. It had been violently pulled clean out of its socket at the shoulder and just barely managing to stay attached to his body thanks to his armored suit and the immense strength of the connecting muscle fibers that held firm, despite several bundles snapping under the strain. 

At this point, Kor was no longer capable of pulling his arm back in as the helpless limb continued to be ground into the rock, where the bones within it were smashed and broken dozens of times.

Kor’s helmet speakers automatically shut off, as he had recently set them to do whenever his voice reached a certain pitch and frequency. 

From outside his enclosed, armored body, no one could hear the horrendous screams of pain that were howled out into the cold silence by the suffering Lombax.

In the next moment, or perhaps several hundred after (Kor had lost track of the time at some point), light suddenly filled the armored Lombax’s visor once more.

Blinking through watery, pain-filled eyes, Kor recognized the new location immediately as their old location. The wigwump had doubled back around to its nest, likely believing that it had ditched its tormentor as successfully as it had the last time. 

Kor grit his teeth into a wicked smile, filled in equal parts with satisfaction and agony,  _ ‘Not this time,’ _ he hissed weakly.

As the wigwump began to search its cavern for where it believed it would find Kor hiding again, the armored Lombax himself, with great difficulty, pushed thoughts of his pain away from his mind and refocused on his task.

With his one arm sitting uselessly across his side, Kor reached his good arm forward to cut through the remaining bur of flesh, only… there was no knife in his hand.

Somewhere in the depths of Kor’s pain-addled mind, he briefly recalled an image of the blade being held in his damaged arm’s previously un-shattered fingers, followed by the memory of feeling it slip through his grasp as he became unable to hold it any longer.

A rattling, pain-filled sigh left Kor’s mouth as he deflated across the wigwump’s back. If he had lost the knife then he had no way of finishing his task.

But Kor did not wallow for long, the pain in his arm would not let him rest anyway. 

Gritting his teeth for one final push, the armored Lombax sat up on the wigwump’s back and dug his good hand’s armored fingers in-between the large gap that he’d already cut between the armored plate and its surrounding flesh. 

Gripping the hated piece of chitin tightly, Kor planted his feet into the wigwump’s back and began pulling for all he was worth.

Feeling the pressure of his efforts, the wigwump suddenly realized why it had been unable to find its prey on the ground. 

Seething with anger at what it saw as being mounted for the third time, the giant worm once again began to thrash and buck in an attempt to dislodge Kor.

However, in an ironic twist, Kor now had a better grip on the wigwump than ever.

As he clasped the mostly detached armored plate in his hand tightly, the behemoth’s violent motions only served to aid his efforts.

Still, the piece of chitin would not budge. As Kor redoubled his efforts and pulled even harder, he thought of… nothing. 

No motivational memories, no inspirational flashbacks, nor any words of determination. His mind was a blank canvas of red as he single-mindedly pushed his body to its limits, straining every unbroken muscle he had left in order to accomplish a task that he no longer even had the capacity to understand why he was doing in the first place. 

Even the violent motions of the wigwump disappeared from his perception as his muscles screamed in a protest that he did not hear and his blood vessels burst painlessly under the intense strain.

Then, all at once, the organic plate of armor gave way, snapping free from its hold and flying upward from the wigwump’s body... before slamming hard into Kor’s armored face.

The thought,  _ ‘Three times,’ _ briefly swam across Kor’s groggy mind, but it was quickly overwritten as he was forced to fight to retain his position. 

The wigwump, having felt its protective plate chitin being ripped off completely, redoubled its flailing efforts, but this time they were uncoordinated and filled with simply pain and fear.

It was a close call, but Kor managed to recover and press himself flat against the wigwump again.

Holding on tightly with his remaining arm, the determined Lombax looked down at his handy work. The soft, greyish-pink flesh of the wigwump’s brain sat open to the elements at last, a mere few inches from his face. 

He waited for a lull in the beast’s bucking and then released his stabilizing hold. 

Raising his fist high above him, the armored Lombax began punching and digging his fingers into the organic mass with all the ferocity of a wild animal.

Unfortunately, for all his strength and power, the determined warrior could not even scratch the organ’s thick, protective membrane. 

The wigwump began to thrash about once more and Kor was forced to retake hold of something to keep from being thrown. 

Burning frustration welled inside his chest, causing him more pain than even his shattered arm ever could. He was ‘so’ close to his goal, but yet so utterly, so despondently far.

His remaining arm and fist weren’t enough, he needed something else to destroy the brain tissue. He could try to pull out his wrench and use that, but it was likely that, having lost its vital hold, he’d be thrown clear from the wigwump in a second and killed in a few seconds more, probably without ever getting the chance to take a single swing.

Even had he managed to pull off the move, though, Kor knew that Kaden had been very specific with his wording for a reason. 

He had ordered Kor to ‘tear up’ the material. Enough to cause intense pain and vertigo, but not enough to kill the creature outright. It was possible that using his wrench to destroy the lobe that lay before him would not achieve the outcome he needed.

Kor ground his fang-like teeth together in frustration. He needed something else! Something sharp, like a jagged rock, or maybe even one of the wigwump’s own fractured armored plates. 

He looked around, desperate for any tool he could possibly use.

* * *

It had been nearly two minutes since Kaden had been swallowed. His mind was now filled with little more than the blinding reports of pain that came from every inch of his body.

Despite the pain, however, there was still room for panic. Even though every nerve he had was screaming their warnings to him, he was able to sift through the noise and feel the distinct pain that emanated from his neck.

From that he knew, without a doubt, that his throat was about to be breached.

Fear flooded his mind like water into a bowl of pebbles, filling every crevice and empty space with its presence as it began to wash any lingering, coherent thoughts out of its way completely.

His imagination ran wild, simulating the horror that would be his existence in the next few moments. His amazingly vivid mind, once such a huge advantage in allowing him to design devices and simulate situations far beyond his peers, was now a curse.

He was forced to watch in his mind’s eye as burning acid poured its way into his lungs, causing the pain that encased the exterior of his body in its entirety to double, as the same pain erupted within him.

It was then, as his end drew closer, he began to get angry. 

He was angry at himself for getting caught in this situation, though, that did not last long. 

He was angry at Boogoh for being eaten and angry at the wigwump for eating both of them. 

He was even mad at the fact he hadn’t passed out yet. He’d held his breath for nearly so long and wasn’t exactly in a calm situation. He should have lost consciousness by now, but a combination of intense pain from the acid combined with his Nanotech managing his limited oxygen with great efficiency, ensured that when the brutal end did finally come, he’d be awake for every possible second of it.

Most off all, however, Kaden was angry at Kor. In his mind, this was all the armored Lombax’s fault. It had been ‘his’ task to destroy the wigwump’s sensory node, which, had it been done like it was supposed to, would have meant Kaden would have been saved by now. 

The fact that it wasn’t, left Kaden no choice but to assume that his armored servant had failed and thus doomed him to this horrible fate.

He swore to himself, in the depth of his desperation, that if he ever saw Kor again, in this life or next, he would-

Suddenly, Kaden felt like he was falling. 

He wasn’t actually falling though, it was more like he was being pulled by an intense force in some unknown direction.

As the half-melted Lombax was pulled along helplessly, the image of a toilet bowl being flushed entered his mind. It was as if all the stomach juices in the wigwump’s stomach were moving rapidly from one location to another and taking him with it.

At first, Kaden had simply assumed that he was being moved to the next stomach to begin the second phase of digestion. Any further into the wigwump and there would be no chance of escape without an industrial cutting laser to do so. 

He wasn’t particularly worried though, it wasn’t like he would have survived much longer in the first stomach anyway. 

In fact, he considered himself lucky, since the second stomach had much more potent acid. His suffering would be much shorter in there.

But then, Kaden’s tattered back was suddenly scraping against something hard, rough, and expansive. This feeling was then matched by the sudden rush of hot air brushing against his raw and melted skin. 

Hardly daring to believe what his mind was suggesting, Kaden took a huge risk and removed his hands from his face and the moment he felt the hot air touch his lips, he inhaled so fast and deeply one would think he’d never experienced anything as amazing as breathing before.

Coughing and hacking violently, the pained lombax then dared to open his eyes. He blinked hard in the dim light of the large cavern and found that he was staring up at the ceiling. 

Kaden then tilted his head slightly to try and get a better look around and nearly jumped out of what was left of his skin when he came face to face with a massive, dead wigwump laying only a few feet away from him.

Fighting to regain the precious breath he’d just lost, Kaden gingerly tried to get up off of his back, but his first movements were plagued by the intense, stinging pain that the acid had left behind on almost every inch of his body.

It was a good pain though. It was a series of random, shooting pains that told him that he was no longer being attacked from every direction and it told him that there was no more acid waiting to turn him into jelly. 

It was also a pain that was rapidly evaporating as his Nanotech, now free to repair the damaged areas, began closing wounds and re-growing entire sheets of missing skin. It only took another few moments before Kaden felt well enough to get weakly to his feet.

Grabbing onto a nearby boulder for support, the wheezing Lombax managed to stand up, though he still needed the boulder to support himself. He used this new position to get a better view of the area.

The unmoving form of the slain wigwump lay across the ground next to a large pool of its own vomit, which Kaden now stood in. This wasn’t important though, as Kaden was looking for something else.

Spotting the gaping hole in the wigwump’s head where its sensory lobe had previously been, he followed a gruesomely wide trail of blood that disappeared off toward some tall boulders. 

Kaden moved as fast as he could, which was not particularly fast at all, or graceful for that matter, but soon made his way to where Kor lay, with his armored back propped against a large rock.

The red-armored Lombax raised his head weakly as Kaden approached, “Your appearance leaves much to be desired,” he rasped through his helmet.

“Look who’s talking,” Kaden countered in what sounded like a hoarse gasp of air that blew through gravel.

He then stumbled to a spot across from his companion and took a seat, before leaning against his own boulder for support, unable to remember the last time he’d felt this exhausted.

The two Lombaxes half-heartedly looked each other up and down, examining the other’s appearance.

Kor sat with his armor covered in a plethora of new dents and scars that had not been there this morning. He was also coated in the sticky residue of cooled magma. 

Worst by far, however, was the exhausted warrior’s arm. It was now missing nearly all of the metallic armor plating that had protected it, leaving only the skin-tight Nano-weave undershirt below. This made the fact that the limb was jutting out at an odd angle all the more obvious as it lay motionless, despite how uncomfortable it looked.

Kaden’s armor, having been made of dense material designed to defend against direct attack, had held up pretty well in the stomach acid and was still covering the vital parts of his body. 

On the other hand, the enviro-suit that he wore underneath the armor was now little more than a series of holes and simply looked like someone had taken twine and wrapped it around his extremities.

But this was hardly noticeable next to Kaden’s physical appearance. The tan Lombax was no longer tan by any right, as his fur was now missing. In its place, his body was now coated in a rapidly produced Nano-skin which was more akin to the look of a burn victim’s completely scar-tissue exterior than anything else.

Fur was not strategically important, so his Nanotech would not regrow it unless specifically instructed too. For the time being, Kaden would have to accept his fate as a bald Lombax. 

Well… bald everywhere except for the two, hand-shaped patches that were still full and fuzzy on his face. They stood out in such a sharp contrast the rest of his burned body that it was comical, even in their current situation.

When the two Lombaxes had finished marveling at the other’s appearance, they each took one last glance at themselves and… broke out into pained fits of laughter. 

Their mirth was stifled by the intense suffering it caused both of them, but neither could help themselves; they both looked so pathetic.

After a short while, their laughter died and the two sat in silence once more.

“Hey, Kor,” began Kaden after taking a moment to breathe, “I’ll accept this one... that was definitely a life repaid.”

Kor gingerly sat up and puffed out his chest, before taking his one good arm, making a fist, and pressing it gently against his heart. 

He struck a pose that emanated a dignified and distinguished manner and eyed Kaden before saying, “Damn straight!”

Dead silence fell over the area as the bald Lombax stared, dumbfounded back at Kor.

The broken and mostly armored Lombax tilted his head curiously, “Did I misunderstand the term’s meaning?”

A wide grin split Kaden’s face and he shook his own head, “No, no. You used it… just fine,” he assured his armored Companion, trying not to laugh again.

Still grinning at Kor’s unexpected choice of words, Kaden got back to his feet and stretched his still aching (and mostly newly grown) muscles, before moving toward where Kor sat.

The battered warrior eyed him suspiciously, “What are you doing?” he questioned.

Kaden made a point of flexing his arms to make sure that they were functioning well enough for what he needed to use them for, “Nanotech easily repairs cuts, bruises, and burns... but that,” he said, pointing a still raw finger at the misshapen limb hanging limply at Kor’s side, “is definitely dislocated and I’m guessing is also sporting at least a few fractures as well.”

Kor shrunk away from Kaden slightly, “And your point?” he asked with a hint of concern in his metallic tone.

Kaden removed his damaged gauntlets and flexed his fingers while eyeing Kor’s arm, “You know what my point is. We have to reset the broken bones in your arm and put it back in its socket. If we don’t, then your Nanotech might try to repair them anyway and they’ll be fused at a bad angle,” he explained.

Kor slid back further and shook his armored head, “We, uh, do not need to do this here. Let us return to the surface first and consult a healer.”

“I know what I’m doing and you know this needs to be done as soon as possible,” Kaden countered Kaden, taking another step forward. “Besides, you still owe me one life, so I command you: just give me your arm already.”

Kor did not reply, but after a moment to think, he reluctantly offered his damaged appendage.

Kaden nodded and reached forward, before feeling up Kor’s arm carefully in search of bone damage. 

Kor winced and twitched from the pain, but there was nothing Kaden could do about that, any equipment he had possessed that could scan Kor’s bones without direct physical contact had been damaged by the acid.

Luckily for Kor though, it did not feel like there were any compound fractures or major brakes in the arm, just a series of cracks in the bone, meaning that they had remained in place and that his Nanotech had already started to heal them.

Kaden credited Kor’s lucky ‘break’ to the Lombax’s ridiculous amount of muscle, having likely held the bones in place even after being shattered. 

This meant that the only thing left to be done was to reinsert the shoulder joint back into its socket.

Kaden took a deep breath, followed by a firm hold of Kor’s arm with both hands.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Kor asked, just the smallest hint of fear in his voice.

“Of course I do,” insisted Kaden, “Well, in theory at least.”

“Theory?!” repeated Kor, concern clearly evident in his voice now. “So you’ve never done this before and I’m just some kind of practice dummy for you?”

“Not at all,” Kaden asserted, in what he believed was a comforting tone, “Look, I don’t want to do this either, but it needs to be done... for your sake.”

“Then why are you smiling?” demanded Kor with obvious suspicion and doubt.

“Smiling?” Kaden repeated the curiously through the huge, subconscious grin of enthusiasm plastered across his face. “Oh, that... Well, I guess I am a little excited.”

“‘Excited’?! What do you mean by that?” Kor questioned, panic starting to set in.

Kaden shrugged, “This is the first time I’m getting to try this out, you know? It’s kind of cool,” he explained, starting to laugh a bit at the odd situation.

“I do ‘not’ know,” Kor stated flatly. “And I do ‘not’ believe there is anything funny about this!”

Kaden’s grip on Kor’s arm suddenly tightened and the burnt Lombax looked Kor straight in his glassy eye, “Actually, ‘I’ find this kind of… ‘humerus’.”

Kor tilted his head in confusion, “What do you mean-”

* _ Click _ *

Kor’s words were cut off by a sudden surge of pain to an already ‘very’ tender area. 

Kaden felt the armored Lombax pull away from him reflexively, but the job was already done, so he just let him go. 

Besides, he was more concerned about dealing with what was going on in his own head. 

Kaden didn’t know what he had expected to feel after he’d fixed Kor’s arm, but he had definitely not put much thought into what sensation he would experience for himself when doing so. 

The feeling of Kor’s arm as the bone had slid back into place, with that nauseatingly audible ‘click’, now kept replaying itself in his mind. 

No matter how hard he told himself that the body was just proteins and calcium deposits, every time he re-experienced the memory of it, his stomach felt a little more uneasy. 

After all that he’d just been through, he felt as if he were about to puke.

However, someone beat him to it.

Kaden’s ears twitched upon hearing the soft, metallic click of Kor’s mouth guard opening. Fortunately for Kaden, Kor had not been facing his direction and turned around just in time to witness a flood of stomach bile pour out onto the cavern floor.

The still queasy Lombax quickly turned away, but not before recognizing the fat chunks of fleshy pink sinew and grey brain matter that had made up the majority of Kor’s expelled material.

Kaden gaged and choked as he fought hard to keep himself from following suit, “By the council, Kor. Geh! Is there anything you won’t eat?” he asked as a way to distract himself.

When Kor was finished what he was doing, his helmet resealed, “I… didn’t have a choice,” the sickly Lombax heaved as he tried to prevent a second coming.

He failed.

Kaden wasn’t even really listening at this point as he fought to divert his thoughts, “I know you tend to be a bit dramatic when it comes to fighting and honor, but just because it was trying to eat us doesn’t mean you have to eat it.”

Kor’s helmet resealed again, “I… am beginning to regret my actions… for several reasons,” he choked. “Besides… ‘she’ didn’t really care about eating us… only about killing us.”

Kaden’s mind suddenly found the distraction it was looking for. 

He had already figured that the wigwump attacked them for territorial reasons, as there were plenty of other, more filling prey for it to eat around Sargasso, but how did Kor know that this creature was female? It was usually impossible to tell what kind of gender a wigwump was without dissecting it or using DNA.

Then Kaden recalled his conversation with Kor in part three.

He spun around and looked at the fat chunks of regurgitated brain tissue, too focused to feel nauseous this time, “Kor…” he began, amazed at what he was about to ask, “When you eat a creature’s brain do you… can you-”

But Kaden’s question was cut off by the sound of movement in the direction of the wigwump. The two Lombaxes quickly gathered their wits and eyed the massive form of the fallen Behemoth. 

Kor reflexively grabbed his wrench and Kaden reached for his gauntlets, though he was unsure if he could make use of them.

Then, a large, metal orb rolled over the rocks and stopped just in front of them.

The orb popped open a second later and a tiny Kerchu burst out, “Oh my ( _ translation not found _ )! That was crazy!” squeaked Boogoh with barely contained excitement. “First, the wigwump showed up and you guys were all like, ‘Bang, bang, where’d it go?’ and I was like ‘oh no’, but then you were like ‘Kabooooom’ and it was gone, then I was like ‘soooo cool’ and then I got eaten!”

Both Kaden and Kor were still frozen in their combat-ready stances. So surprised were they by Boogoh’s arrival that they hadn’t even lowered their guard. 

However, as they slowly lowered their weapons, they looked away in slight guilt, as both of them had forgotten all about why they’d come down to fight the wigwump in the first place.

“Well Boogoh,” began Kaden hesitantly, “I’m glad to see-”

“And that’s not all!” Boogoh continued once he’d replenished his air supply. “I was soooo scared that I just stayed curled up and I didn’t know what to do, but then I heard more explosions and I was being thrown around a lot, so I was like ‘they’re going to rescue me’, I told myself that was crazy, I mean I was eaten by a wigwump, but I was right! Next thing I know I was puked out into this big room. It’s really hot in here. But you guys weren’t around, so I went looking for you, I went the other way, but then I came to the wall and I figured ‘they wouldn’t leave me if they came to rescue me’, so I went back and tried the other ‘other’ way. Then I saw the dead wigwump for the second time!

Boogoh paused again to breathe and the two Lombaxes let him, before he continued “Seeing it the first time I was like, in shock, but the second time I was like ‘oh my ( _ translation not found _ ), they killed a wigwump!’, though it looks like something ate its brain. What could have done that? I still can’t believe you guys killed it though! I’ve heard of entire soldier battalions fighting off wigwump attacks before, but never two guys managing to kill one alone! Then, when I was looking at it and I was thinking ‘this is so cool’, I heard noises from this way, so I followed them and here you are! What was that sound you were making anyway, it kind of sounded like-”

The young Kerchu’s racing mind had finally caught up with his much faster racing mouth after he spotted the pool of half-eaten brain material. The combination of the stress from his ordeal, the strain from his rapidly worded ‘explanation’, and the realization of what exactly he was looking at was simply too much for him to take. 

Boogoh then added his breakfast from this morning to the regurgitated mix on the floor, before falling to his hands and knees, heaving and retching violently.

Kaden and Kor looked at each other, neither really sure what had just happened.

Kaden eventually stepped forward to try and help, but the sounds that Boogoh was making quickly got to him too. He spun on his heel and moved behind a squat boulder before becoming the fourth member of the club.

Kor took a good, hard look at his surroundings and let out a long sigh of disappointment. 

What had started out to him as an epic rescue to slay a legendary wigwump, had now divulged into this gut-wrenching scene as they stood ‘victorious’ in their goals. 

_ ‘Could there be any worse of an ending?’ _ he wondered.

-The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to put a massive “It’s Over!!!!” here, but I realized that we still have the epilogue chapter to go. 
> 
> In celebration of this auspicious occasion my editor did make an intriguing note of the first book:
> 
> Editor’s Note: TL;DR: Kaden was accepted into an elite educational facility. Long story short and many explosions later he and two other people are vomiting into a pile of vomit from a creature a thousand times their size a mile underground on a different planet. 
> 
> AN: An apt summary, thank you.


	15. Epilogue: Back Home Where We Began

Kor watched the tan Lombax sleeping soundly on the shuttle seat across from him. They were roughly an hour away from returning to Nova Academy. He would have even noted how oddly peaceful the chaotic young boy had looked, if not for the ragged snoring he produced.

As for the armored Lombax himself, he still felt apprehension at riding inside the flying metal coffin called a ‘shuttle’, but somehow, seeing his once again tan-furred companion so relaxed put him at ease. If nothing else, he at least felt assured of Kaden’s understanding of Demari technology and could take solace in his confidence.

In truth, Kor felt as though he could sleep as well, they had not had much time to rest after the wigwump incident. An emergency extraction skiff had been called by their Kerchu companions and the mission had been put on hold as all involved were given medical attention. Kerchu medical technology was surprisingly adept at fur regrowth, if nothing else… at least, that’s what Kaden had said.

Luckily for them, however, the scans that had been used to track the wigwump's subterranean movements had also revealed a mother lode of gelatonium beneath the island. Additionally, the tunnels opened up by the creature's frequent burrowing would make access to the coveted material much easier. 

The cherry on top was that the wigwump, which had claimed that island as its territory and would have prevented extracting the gelatonium, was recently killed, meaning that rig workers would be safe from wigwump attacks for a long time.

The discovered gelatonium deposits and the efficiency with which they could be extracted was considered more than enough to cover their surveying quota, officially completing their mission in the process. The metal man named James had then been summoned and had arrived shortly after to pick them up. 

The grateful, older Kerchu Minister that had called himself ‘Baagah’ showed his gratitude for saving his son by offering them a ride home on a gelatonium tanker that was being sent to Fastoon, rather than wait for the  _ Slipstream _ to come pick them up. Apparently, part of the payment for the mission was in gelatonium.

Kor now looked ahead to the future.

Despite having received a bonus from their Kerchu contractors for a job well done, it was unlikely that Dean Tor'doran would let them see much of it, if any. This was fine though, the tired warrior was simply happy to have the matter resolved and the Dean's attention off of him.

Nova Academy's 'vacation' period was coming up soon and he would normally be looking forward to signing onto a mercenary contract and using the bolts he’d earned to repair or replace his broken and lost equipment, which he desperately needed. However, he would have to put such aspirations on hold. 

Kaden had declared that his life had been saved by Kor's actions against the wigwump, but even though that was a life repaid, Kor still had one left to go before retrieving his tail.

In his mind, he bitterly hoped that whatever tasks his master made him do next, he would be able to complete them and regain his tail without losing what little equipment he had left. Knowing Kaden though, he doubted he’d have that much luck.

However, the armored Lombax spied the Metal Storm node still mounted to his forearm and immediately regretted his hateful thoughts. It was true that Kaden was responsible for the loss of most of his weaponry, but the blame for such things was undeserved. It had been Kor’s own actions and weaknesses that had led to their loss. Kaden had simply played the role of enemy ‘too’ well.

Besides, the new weapon that the tan Lombax had forged for him was well worth the loss, in his opinion. 

Kor had briefly dreamed of even more miraculous weaponry that the brilliantly mad Lombax might build for him and of what glorious battle tales he could write with them... but they were but dreams. He knew that there was 'no' chance of that happening.

At that moment, the tan Lombax snorted loudly as the sound of his own snoring roused him from his slumber, “Wha-what happened?” he yawned drowsily.

Kor nodded as a way of greeting his newly awakened master, “You fell asleep as you were contemplating your next question,” he explained, “Also, I believe we are not long for our destination now.”

Kaden yawned again and stretched out his limbs. Yet again his unbelievably refreshing, exhaustion-induced slumber made him almost wish he’d face death on a more frequent basis, just so he'd be able to sleep better.

After a small smile to himself at the realization that he could have just died and enjoyed perfect sleep for eternity, he began to recall what he was doing before dozing off, “You said it was my turn, right?” he asked of his armored companion. 

Kor simply nodded in confirmation.

The two of them had been continuing their ‘learn more about the other’ game that they’d started on Sargasso and Kaden had previously been racking his mind for another question to ask and had fallen asleep while lost in thought.

“Oh!” the tan Lombax declared with a snap of his fingers as he came back to full wakefulness. 

How could he have forgotten to ask such an important question? 

Kaden looked Kor in the eyes intensely, “Can you read the minds of the brains you eat?” he questioned.

Kor tilted his head to one side, “Perhaps I did not hear you or am I misunderstanding Demari terminology?”

Kaden shook his head, “When we were fighting the wigwump, you ate part of its brain and then said that it wasn’t trying to eat us, it was trying to kill us. How did you know that?”

Kor shrugged his metallic shoulders, “It seemed obvious by the way it kept trying to crush us or bury us in Lava. I have fought many beasts on Magnaron, never one as large as the wigwump, but I know the difference between a hunger for blood and a thirst for it.”

Kor’s words made Kaden take pause as he processed them before continuing, “But you said that it was female. How could you have known the thing’s gender when it has almost no external markings to define it?”

“It tasted like a girl,” Kor answered simply, but upon seeing Kaden’s confused look, he elaborated, “Female brains tend to be sweeter than male brains, which are usually bland tasting and very chewy, but female brains are also more acidic and have a nasty aftertaste. I’ve had some that sat so badly in my stomach that it felt like they were trying to kill me from the inside. Whenever I’d tell my brother about this feeling, he’d always laugh and say ‘That sounds like some serious food for thought’. I never understood what he meant by that, though.”

Kaden simply stared back blankly at Kor… trying desperately not to smile or laugh at the brilliant joke.

After settling back down and marveling at how little he was bothered by the revelation that Kor frequently ate brains, he relaxed in his seat once more, “Alright, that was ‘my’ question. Now it’s your turn.”

Kor nodded his acknowledgement and thought for a moment, “Are Demari Lombaxes really unable to change their fur color?” he asked simply.

Kaden nearly fell out of his chair as he suddenly remembered the conversation from part three that had made him think Kor could read the minds of the brains he ate, “Run that one by me again,” he said, careful not to jump to any conclusions this time.

Kor nodded, “On Sargasso, you were describing the various myths that your people held toward my own and you mentioned that is was rumored we could change our fur color,” he explained. “I thought that was curious, as I have seen several Demari students at the academy displaying different colored coats from one day to the next.”

Kaden scrunched his forehead in thought as he focused on Kor’s words “It’s true that we can change our fur color by using dyes and even through genetic manipulation,” he answered. “That must be what you saw, but the myth I was talking about says that Red Lombaxes can do it naturally. You’re not saying that you can change the color of your fur on a whim, are you?”

“No. I can’t do that,” answered Kor.

Kaden breathed a slight sigh, “Oh, ok. For a second there I thought-”

“It takes me at least a few minutes of intense meditations to change my entire coat,” the armored warrior continued casually, “I’ve never been very good at it, to be honest, but that’s not entirely uncommon amongst my people. However, I have seen some warriors who could change their fur completely in a matter of seconds. It is a testament to their willpower.”

Kaden stared, stone-faced, at his armored companion for a moment, “But you’re saying that Red Lombaxes, that ‘you’, can change the color of your fur simply by focusing on it?” 

Kor nodded and Kaden’s mind imploded as it fought to rewrite a large part of his common conceptions, “W-well what kind of colors can you change it too? Red, obviously, but can you make your fur white or tan… could you make yourself look like me?!”

Kor shook his head, “No, nothing like that. My people are born a mix of red and black, adapted for blending into the volcanic landscape of Magnaron’s Inferno, but when we hunt in the snowy Frost, just beyond the Divide, the ash-mixed ice is pure black, so we change our coats to match it. I was taught that what we do is not a changing of the fur color, but rather a control over its value. We are always ‘red’ furred, but we can make our fur so dark that it can appear black, for instance.”

Kaden’s mind was finally starting to accept what he was being told and despite himself, he was becoming excited, “Then, c-can you show me? Your fur changing, I mean.”

Kor was silent for a long time, “Is that an order?” he asked in a grainy monotone.

Kaden thought for a moment, “I’m not going to force you to, if that’s what you’re saying.”

“Then no,” Kor refused flat out.

Kaden looked crestfallen, “Why not?” he demanded.

Kor sighed, “Because, I am not some sideshow for your viewing pleasure,” and he turned away from him.

Kaden scowled, “Oh come on, just take off your gauntlet or something, it’s no big deal.”

Kor was silent again for a long moment, but then returned his attention to Kaden, “Very well, but only in trade. In return, you must show me your genitals. It is rumored amongst my people that the ones Demari possess are exceptionally small.”

So many flags went up in Kaden’s mind that he didn’t know where to start. 

First, there was the sudden request to display his shame that made him physically recoil slightly from Kor on instinct. Then there was the blatant insult of proportions, executed on a species-wide level, which he couldn’t be completely sure was a crude shot at him personally, or if it was a legitimately held belief.

Then, of course, there was Kaden’s overwhelming sense of curiosity to see said fur changing which made him genuinely considered the offer for a worryingly long period of time.

With a sudden cranial shake of common sense, Kaden turned back to Kor, “No, I’m not doing that!” he stated firmly. “That’s just weird.”

Kor folded his armored arms, “Then we’re agreed, being asked to display parts of one’s bodies to satisfy the curiosity of others is ‘just weird’.”

Kaden was about to respond, but held back as he considered the conversation further.

After a moment, he scowled and folded his arms as well, “Fine then,” he spat back, like a child who’d been denied a toy.

The two then waited in silence for a few moments, not sure how to follow up an exchange like that, until Kor finally felt safe enough that Kaden wouldn’t pursue the issue. 

The armored Lombax let out a mechanical sigh, “Even though it seems that my question ended up being more of an answer for you, it was still mine, and therefore: it is your turn.”

Kaden ignored Kor at first, still upset at being denied, but after a while, his childish nature faded and he began to ponder his next question. 

Before he could think of one though, the air suddenly filled with an electrical energy and it felt to both passengers like their stomachs had fallen out.

Kaden quickly checked his NID's GPS and saw that it was working again, meaning they had just dropped out of hyperspace. They were now likely just outside Lombax star-space and it would take a little while for a Kerchu freighter to get permission to approach Fastoon's atmosphere. 

Only then would they be able to deploy their shuttle to its surface. The authorities should already know they were coming and be ready, so hopefully not too long now.

Kaden briefly thought about how someone from the Bellit family was likely overseeing their request and it made him feel a twinge of homesickness. 

He remembered that he hadn’t actually spoken to Sorana since they’d both visited Synaptic Park and the words Alister had said to him in the hospital hung in the back of his mind on the edge of his perception. They were like a far off cloud that threatened rain.

It was at that exact moment, that a small buzz drew Kaden’s attention away from his musings. The buzz was something only he could feel, and it meant his NID had received a message. 

The tan Lombax then reached for his digi-pad and opened the text-only transmission.

Kor watched curiously as his fellow companion smiled down at the flat device which he recognized as a digi-pad, “Is something amusing?” he questioned 

Kaden shook his head, “Not really, no. Just an interesting message,” he explained. “Someone is waiting for me when I land and I imagine she and I will have a bit to talk about.”

Kor nodded his understanding, “Is she your mate?” he asked casually.

Kaden had thought he had become used to Kor saying surprising things, but the sudden question from out of nowhere almost made him drop his digi-pad, “W-what?! No, o-of course not! Why in council’s name would you ask that?!” he demanded through spluttered words.

Kor shrugged his armored shoulders, noting Kaden’s oddly energetic reaction, but dismissing it as just a ‘Kaden’ thing, “Intuition,” he offered as he recalled the odd cheerfulness he’d witnessed in the young Lombax’s smile as he had read the digi-pad message.

“Well, your intuition may be good for fighting, but you’re waaaay off here,” Kaden pointed out indignantly. “And isn’t that a question? I believe it was ‘my’ turn to ask next?”

Kor shrugged again and spread his arms out invitingly, a sign for him to ask away. 

Kaden felt the sarcasm in the gesture, but didn’t rise to it. Instead, he thought hard about what would likely be his final question before they landed.

“Alright... I got one,” the tan Lombax began, having found what he was looking for in the depths of his mind. “How did you get past me on the train?” 

Kaden’s expression had become serious, as if their conversation had suddenly become an interrogation.

Kaden recognized that this question had been the very first that he’d wanted to ask, though it was swiftly pushed aside by more important ones. It somehow seemed fitting that it would also be the last.

Kor tilted his head in confusion, “What do you mean?” he wondered honestly.

Kaden frowned a little, “You know… when we first met on the Quasar Express, at the beginning of last semester. I checked your cabin thoroughly, but I found no trace of you. After I walked out, the lights came on and you were suddenly inside. I was standing right in the doorway, so how did I not see you?”

For a long few seconds, Kor’s emotionless face simply stared back at Kaden, as the armored Lombax tried to remember. 

Then, when the recollection finally did come to him, it made him wear a look of sheer surprise hidden beneath his mask.

“You are a fool,” Kor answered simply.

Kaden grit his teeth and he bit back a harsh retort that would certainly turn into further conflict. 

It felt so odd that they’d suddenly sank back to petty name calling, but the irritated Lombax’s priority was information, so he swallowed, “Yes, yes, I’m a fool and you’re a lumbering cavebax who can’t work simple technology, I get it. Now just tell me how you hid from me already!”

Kor slowly shook his head, “That ‘is’ how,” he insisted. “Because you are a fool.”

Kaden scowled and was about to retaliate verbally when he was stopped by a strong tremor that ran through the hull of their shuttle. 

This must have meant that James had started the shuttle’s engines and was beginning to depart from the Kerchu freighter. They would be back at Nova Academy in a matter of minutes now.

Kaden then let out a deep sigh, “You know what? I don’t care,” he declared sincerely.

His mission was over, he’d returned safely in one piec-... in most of his original pieces, and he now had a prior engagement that he was eager to get to. He’d already managed to answer nearly all the questions he’d had about Kor up until now and he was amazed to find that he genuinely did not care about this last one.

There was an intense feeling of inertial shift as the shuttle made its way down into the atmosphere. There was a surprising bit of turbulence, meaning that they must be moving through a pretty heavy storm. 

Kaden simply relaxed where he sat and was content to just sit in silence while Kor gripped his seat tightly, unable to say another word even if he wanted to.

A few minutes later, the slightly turbulent ride came to a halt with a sharp jarring, indicating that they’d docked with a starport. A moment later the exit door began to click rapidly as pressure locks disengaged.

Standing up and patting his legs down, Kaden took a deep breath and smiled at Kor, giving him one last nod before saying, “Good day, Sir,” and heading for the exit.

“Wait,” countered Kor, standing up shakily and taking a step forward, “Now it is my turn to ask a question.”

Kaden watched as the crack of light broke through the doorway as the ramp slowly began to lower, “Alright, one last question then. What is it?”

Kor did not answer at first. He held back and shifted slightly where he stood. 

This prompted Kaden to raise a curious eyebrow. 

“What happens now?” the armored Lombax asked cautiously.

Kaden’s eyebrow raised even higher, “What do you mean? We go back to school, what else?”

But Kor shook his head and pressed his fist against the half burnt off image of the grinning Lombax silhouette on his chest, “I have yet to regain my tail,” he pointed out. “I repaid one debt of life by finishing off the wigwump and releasing you from its stomach, but that still leaves one life yet to be repaid. I do not know what else I can assist you with other than combat, but I will do whatever is necessary to regain what I’ve lost.”

Kaden’s eyes widened as he realized what Kor was talking about, “Oh, right,” he responded. 

The tan Lombax then put his hand behind his head, pulling his ears back in a sign of guilt, “I’ve actually got something to say about that,” he began hesitantly. “The truth is... when we fought each other in the depot, I may have won the match, but I wouldn’t say that I exactly… survived it. If we’re talking about a match to the death, then I would never have lived through that fight on my own. I almost didn’t, actually, even with the advanced medical treatment I received. To be honest, I’d say that was really more of a… tie.”

Kaden watched Kor fearfully, waiting to see how his aggressive companion would react to the news.

But Kor instead sat back down on the shuttle bench, trying to grasp what he was being told, “A… Tie?” he asked distantly.

“Yep!” assured Kaden in a forced cheerful tone. “Neither of us won the depot battle, I saved you from… yourself in the fitness room, and you saved me from the wigwump, so we’re even.”

“Then... I have already regained my tail?” Kor asked slowly, as comprehension seeped into his mind.

After a long few moments, Kor began to nod his head with understanding, “Yes. Yes, I see. Then the debt is gone and next time we meet in battle, we will be enemies!” he declared, standing up once more and puffing out his chest challengingly.

“Ha,” Kaden snorted. 

Kor tilted his head in further confusion, which prompted Kaden to explain, “I originally only participated in the Military Field to help give me ideas for new weapons and gadgets to build, plus… I needed the exercise. Honestly, I was only so obsessed with fighting ‘you’ personally because I wanted to get revenge for the MSE Tournament. Don’t worry though, I’m done with all that,” he insisted reassuringly. “You’re two levels above me, in the Military Field anyway. The chances that we’ll fight again are slim to none.”

Kor’s mind was having a hard time digesting everything he’d heard, “You will no longer challenge me?” he questioned, even more confused now, as if the very concept of choosing not to fight someone did not make any sense.

Kaden’s mouth split into a big grin and he nodded, “That’s right. No more advanced weapons of death hunting you and no more overpowered, armor wearing, psycho Lombaxes hunting me. It’s a win-win.”

“Then… we are done?” Kor asked, stepping forward and closing the gap between them.

Kaden took a calming breath and smiled a solemn and serious smile, “We are done,” he answered conclusively, before reaching out his hand. 

Kor stared at the offered appendage for a long while, before recognizing the gesture and slowly raising his own to shake it. 

Kaden’s smile grew a little wider, “It’s been… well, it’s been awful,” he stated honestly.

Kor released Kaden’s hand and bowed slightly, “A truly ‘unique’ experience,” he replied.

Kaden grinned again, “That’s a good way to put it,” he agreed before turning on his heel and marching out of the now fully opened exit ramp, “Goodbye, Kor the Crimson Reaper,” he said with a wave of his hand.

He was then answered by a rough and crackly speaker generated, “Farewell, Kaden the Mad Genius.”

Kaden stepped out into the overcast, artificially lit, Military Field starport. High above him, the soft glow of an energy field kept the rain of the storm out of the boarding area, while still allowing small transport shuttles to come and go. 

James was waiting there to greet him, “Welcome home, sir,” the robot butler said cheerfully. “Feel free to depart whenever you like. I will ensure that your luggage is returned to your room.

“Thank you, James,” said Kaden cheerfully. “I wish I could say it’s been a pleasure.”

James bowed at his mechanical waist and Kaden walked onward.

The tan Lombax looked around at the bustling starport area with interest. Lombaxes, robots, and even a few people of other species moved about, all on their way to and from departing aircraft. 

He took a deep breath and smelled the powerful odor of ozone that lingered from the various spacecraft engines, far from the odor of any musty, humid swamp… he was home.

Once the moment had passed, he walked deeper into the starport and began scanning the crowds of people in search of a specific face. 

As he did so, he spotted a familiar flash of white fur and flutter of long, blue tinted hair.

At least, he thought he had. The throng of travelers made it hard to tell from this distance and he had lost the fleeting sight in the crowd.

Kaden continued to stare at the spot suspiciously, but after several more seconds of no luck, he decided that it just been his tired mind and unadjusted eyes playing tricks on him and he pulled out his digi-pad, intending to double check his message and to make sure that no other meet-up location had been mentioned. 

Once he’d verified that there wasn’t, the tan Lombax looked back up, reflexively moving his gaze back to the point he’d been looking at before.

It was then that he spotted a familiar face.

Still unsure if the person in the crowded distance was, in fact, the person he thought it was, Kaden raised his arm and waved in their direction to get their attention.

After a moment of feeling stupid at the possibility that he was waving at a similar looking stranger, he thought the person he was eyeing had spotted him in return. 

But, before they could return the gesture, there was a light tap on his shoulder and Kaden turned around to see who it was.

Standing behind him was Kor, with his arm was drawn back. 

In the next moment, the armored warrior drove his metal-encased fist forward with so much force that when it struck Kaden in the face, it easily had enough power to knock the surprised tan Lombax clean off his feet.

Kaden was sent skidding across the smooth, waxed floor, before coming to a halt several feet away. The near skull-fracturing impact was also enough to briefly knock him unconsciousness.

* * *

There was only darkness at first, but somehow, even that nothingness seemed to swim like a whirlpool. 

Desperately, Kaden tried to recall what had just happened as it came back to him in bits and pieces.

He remembered feeling a tap on his shoulder and that he had turned around to see what it was. What had greeted him was the image of Kor, but he only saw that person for a second, because in the next few moments Kaden’s memories were filled only with the image Kor’s armored fist rocketing towards him. 

The memory of pain followed after that, but only briefly. He’d fallen unconscious for a very short amount of time and that had led him to where he was now: lying on the floor of the starport while a crowd of onlookers began to form a circle around him and his armored assailant.

Darkness gave way to blurry shadows, followed by painful light, then finally a coherent image of a Lombax in red painted armored came into view.

“W-what’s… going on?” Kaden stammered in a daze.

Kor looked down at his floored enemy with his dark red, glassy eyes that somehow managing to display rage and anger, despite being inanimate, “Nothing much,” he noted with a sadistic, metallic tone. “I suppose, now that I’m free from your service, I was suddenly reminded of how much I despise you.”

Kaden’s head, specifically his right eye, which he couldn’t seem to open, was pounding intensely now, but he was quickly becoming aware of his situation. 

He stared up at his attacker, eyes filling with anger, “So you sucker punched me because you don’t like me?!” Kaden hissed through the pounding pain in his head and face.

Kor shook his head, “No, Kaden. The punch was for all the torment and humiliation you’ve dragged me through in the mere few days we were forced to work together. This…” he said, before he held up a very familiar looking digi-pad that Kaden suddenly realized was no longer in his possession, “is because I don’t like you.” 

Kor then proceeded to crush the small device in his powerful metallic grip. The sound of breaking electronics and poly-plastics echoed around the mostly silent circle of onlookers.

Kaden watched in horror as his prized digi-pad was obliterated in seconds.

The armored Lombax then released his grip, allowing a flood of pulverized material to pour out onto the floor, “Now, we’re done,” he said arrogantly.

Kaden, now fully coherent, shook with barely-contained rage, “I’m… Going… To kill you!” he threatened through gritted teeth, with a tone so cold that some of the onlookers took a step back. 

It was hard to see for sure, but to a careful observer, there was a slight shudder that ran up Kor’s body, which looked suspiciously like absolute delight. As if he’d relish nothing more, “Good luck with that,” he then replied calmly, before walking off in a casual manner. The crowd quickly parted to let him pass.

Kaden blinked his one eye hard through his pounding headache and still blurry vision at the disappearing figure. Once Kor was gone from view, he looked down at his destroyed digi-pad. 

Most of the data on it had been backed up in his lab’s mainframe, but everything he’d done since landing on Sargasso was surely lost. Now no one would believe he’d achieved the high score in Flappy Chicken. This knowledge only enraged him further.

There was only one thing, now, that his hate-filled mind could think clearly,

_ ‘This was far from over.’ _


End file.
